


Symmrat Week 2017

by SioDymph



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Wordcount varies each chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-16 00:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9266162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph
Summary: A whole week's worth of Symmmrat (or Junkmetra depending on whatever name you like!) one-shots!Edit: Now with two additional requested prompts!





	1. Day 1: 1st Spark

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my goodness! I was so thrilled when I heard that there would be a Symmrat week, i really enjoy the ship and this will be my first time trying to write with them. So hopefully that all goes well!
> 
> The first prompt was picking a "1st" for both of them and i decided to go with their 1st spark! Enjoy!

For most folks with a passion whether it be music, meteorology, architecture, engineering, weight lifting, video games, even explosions, they could probably think of a starting point, sometimes a single moment when they first saw their passion in action and they realized it was something they could do happily for the rest of their life. That first spark that ignited something much greater.

 

For Satya, she could remember that first spark very well.

She’d just been recruited by Vishkar, left her family behind and was both excited and terrified of what would happen to her. She and a multitude of other young students had been walked through the facilities that would soon be their school and home. Satya, who had been silent the entire tour and stuck to the front of the group was still not quite sure what to make of Vishkar.

But then, at the very end of the tour several of Vishkar’s finest architects at the time arrived. And lifting their arms in unison performed a small demonstration for the new students.

They were stunning, movements and actions masterful and perfect. Together, their gauntlets glowed with a brilliant blue light and just like magic prisms made of pure light formed on their fingertips. The way they all acted, the practiced, precision and grace, it was almost like a dance to Satya. As they continued, their hard-light structures began to branch out, connecting to one another and working together as a unified group they built a beautiful pillar.

Satya felt struck in a way she never had before while watching the architects build as one. And when they were finished they let the children come forth and see their handy-work up close. Satya ran her finger across the sleek pillar, when she looked closely she could still see all the small beautiful triangles and prisms made from light, somehow fixed into this new creation.

When the time came for the students to leave, the tour guides had to gently push her away from the pillar to keep up with the rest of the students. And on her first night at Vishkar her dreams were filled with shining blue prisms and shapes all coming to exist at her command and all flying together to form a giant tower that reached up into the clouds.

After that she knew what she wanted to do in Vishkar. She wanted to work so masterfully that it looked like she were dancing. She wanted to work so wonderfully in unison, that maybe she could help the whole world act so perfectly in unison too. She wanted to make perfect structures and designs that made the world more beautiful. She wanted to become an architect.

And so she spent the rest of her school days studying and training, striving to achieve her dream. Dedicated herself to not just learn but master the power of hard-light until she was finally passed every exam with flying colors and was granted a gauntlet of her very own. And even if for a short while, she did something she loved thanks to Vishkar. Before Brazil, she truly believed that she and the corporation she worked with were doing good for the planet. Helping everyone see the perfect harmony and unison Satya loved and dedicated her life to.

 

For Junkrat while the details before and after were cloudy and unclear, the exact moment of his first spark itself was permanently imprinted into his mind.

All he knew for sure was that he’d been real small. Small enough that a group had taken pity on him, though their faces were blurs in his mind. He could only assume that their group had run into trouble though. There was screaming in both fury and pain all around him, people fighting like starving animals, the sound of bullets whizzing past his ears. Then everyone had been running, yelling to get down when an explosion was set off.

Compared with the stuff he worked with now, that bomb hadn’t even been that great just your usual run-of-the-mill boom. But for his very first explosion up close, it took it breath away and lifted him off his feet. Literally. The force sent him flying back and tumbling across the ground several meters till he crashed into a pile of junk. The very air in his lungs was knocked out of him and left choking on smoke and dust. And the light that came from that explosion, he’d never seen anything manmade be so bright. And yet when that explosion went off suddenly night was turned to day, the light had burned his eyes and left him blinking in sharp blues and greens for a few minutes. And the boom… That beautiful boom… The sound tore through his whole body leaving his ears ringing, head rattled and scrambled, his limbs buzzing with energy and a hum that made his chest feel concaved.

Never before in his life had he experienced something to powerful, something so game changing. With that single explosion Junkrat was in love. And he’d do anything to see an explosion like that again.

He’d started off just trying to nab other Junker’s fireworks and bombs. But as time went on in the outback even those became scarce along with all the other weapons and canned food from the before-times. So while everyone else started improvising, making bullets out of scrap metal, Junkrat began improvising of his own. He carefully took apart a few of his last factory-made bombs and drew out what it all looked like on the inside, figuring out everything he’d need to make on his own. His first few home-made bombs were a whole lot of duds, and the ones that did go off were weak. So he began experimenting with the ratios of everything he put together and new materials he would find out in the husks of old cars and houses. Each boom became bigger and badder than the one he tried before but he couldn’t stop himself, he wanted to see just how wild he could make his bombs. A few times he’d tried making guns but he always came back to bombs. There was a power he felt that Junkrat just couldn’t find in any other weapon. Junkrat was hooked on bombs like they were a drug, and he couldn’t of been happier.

 

Together through Overwatch they discovered a kindred spirit in one another. Despite their differences in appearance, they found they actually had many things in common. They were both creators who whole-heartedly loved what they did. They both had a passion, an inspiration, a spark. And despite the mishaps in their lives, the ones they shared and the ones they kept secret, they still had a strive to do what they loved no matter what happened in the world, maybe even in spite of what happened in the world.

As time went on, that understanding between them became a sincere friendship. And before either of them could prepare themselves, once again like a bolt striking them down, they both felt a spark.


	2. Day 2: Youtuber AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy howdy! This one is definitely going to be my longest submission for the week! I was a bit rushed to finish this all in time but hopefully it doesn't show too badly lol
> 
> Today's theme was an AU so i went with one i'd actually been thinking about, an Alternate Universe where everyone in Overwatch are Youtube gamers! Hope you all enjoy!

“That was an absoblutely booti- beu-… absobluty- Uhhhhggghh!”

“That was a wonderful game and I’m so happy to have experienced it. Thank you for joining me, if you wish please subscrur- errrr.”

Satya groaned as she deleted yet another recording of herself stumbling over her outro. Why was it only the ends of her videos that she got so tongue-tied? And when she did manage to get through her outro she’d rewatch it and realize she was making a weird face or her hair had been messed up. Was it too much to ask to do her English outro perfect by the fifth try?

After pressing her palms into her eyes she sighed and took a deep breath through her nose. She just needed to calm back down and stop over-thinking these outros. If she didn’t focus so intently on the English words then they would come much more naturally. She just needed to relax.

Satya looked over herself one more time in the mirror by her camera, smoothing down her hair and readjusting her shirt before taking one more deep breath through her nose. And attempted her outro one more time.

“That was a wonderful game and I’m so happy to have experienced it. If you haven’t already I highly suggest playing it for yourself. Thank you all for joining me in this playthrough. And if you wish please subscribe to my channel and see you all in my next video!”

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a close as she could get. If she just sat here all day trying to record one outro she’d get nothing else done. She might try recording it again later but for now that would make a good placeholder for then end. Now came the part she enjoy much more. Most of the other youtubers she talked with hated editing their videos, but personally she actually enjoyed it. Compiling the most interesting moments during her recordings and putting them together however she liked. Even though it could be a bit more time-consuming Satya always found it worthwhile. To have complete control of her videos. To make them exactly how she envisioned, down to the very second. To make them perfect.

But before she got started editing, she decided to check her email, many times when she started editing she’d go into a zone and miss out on plans with her friends or important messages from her advertisers. For almost two years now she had been in a symbiotic relationship with Vishkar Tech that had elevated the videos she loved making into a viable career.

Before their contract Satya, or rather her online persona Symmetra, had a decent audience that grew steadily by word of mouth. She was always complimented on her calming voice, positive outlook on games and always keeping things age-appropriate for younger viewers. As it turned out Vishkar Tech liked her videos too, especially the latter factor. Enough so that they felt she was the perfect gamer to be a face for their products. They offered her a deal where they would give her a paycheck for each of her videos, as well as promote her material. And in turn she exclusively used their products only. Her headphones, her keyboard, nearly everything, even her chair were all Vishkar’s top-of-the-line products. And now for two years she’d been able to do one of the things she loved the most thanks to their support.

As she went through her email, she found no new messages from Vishkar. However there was one new email, one she didn’t recognize. It stuck out almost painfully in her inbox full of formal, professional emails. Its caption read “wanna collab??”

Wanna. Not Want to. No capitalization. Not to mention the fact that there were two question marks. She could just see her old English teacher from school looking at this in horror and making corrections in red ink all over the words, if they could even be called that. The addressed seemed strange too, like it had been created by a child going on the internet for the first time. “thejunkergamer@” The only thing missing was a bunch of extra numbers and underscores.

She dreaded opening the email, but at the same time she couldn’t help but feel curious. She’d never done a collaboration before. Mostly because she was seldom a big interactive person among the gaming community on youtube so no one had ever invited her into any crossovers or meet-ups. It did make sense though, with her growing popularity paired with Vishkar’s support she had become rather popular quickly, views on her videos increasing almost exponentially now. Who knew, it might be a fun change.

So not able to resist, and silently hoping this wasn’t actually a virus, she opened the email.

“ _Hi! So, your the great Symmetra everyones been talking about? I’ve seen a bunch of you’re stuff and I think your just great! Real chill and you seem like a nice person, got nice videos_

_Ok, this all started out as a joke in my videos. My mate Roadie and I would crack jokes about all the blokes who where “totally collabing” with us. And one or two times we may of brought up your name and it turns out, people actually liked that idea! Crazy right? So anyways it got big enough that a whole lot a people suggested you as a guest for our next crossover. But I dunno how this would all work. Since you’re in India and I’m bouncing around the States this year. Maybe if you’re in LA for that one convention thing we could meet-up then? I don’t know._

_So email me back if your interested and we can figure all this out!_

_-Jamie (Junkrat) Fawkes_ ”

Satya couldn’t help but stare at the email in slight confusion, like she was looking at strange modern art. It was legible but as Satya read through it she questioned if this could have been his real first language. At one point this so called Junkrat had written, taken the time to type “dunno” yet at another part had typed out “I don’t know” correctly. Why not write it correctly both times? How do you miss those kind of errors? The fact that the correct spelling was written near then end of his short email baffled Satya still. Who writes to someone they don’t know like that? “Yours” and “You’re” were mismatched all over, seeming random in choice of spelling.

The when she looked over the name and email again, she finally recognized it. He was on an Australian gaming channel, not one of the biggest household names but still rather popular. Their name regularly popped-up in the comments on her videos and in her searches. But she had never actually seen one of their videos.

She decided to change that now and looked up a playlist of some of his most recent videos, to see who she could potentially be working with. To be a popular face on youtube he had to be making interesting videos. And even if his form of entertainment wasn’t quite what Satya preferred to invest time in she had to respect the fact that he’d made video content a career for himself like she had. And who knew, maybe Junkrat would surprise her? What if behind his barely-legible email there was an engaging, entertaining series of videos that got him and his channel an audience.

Trying to keep an open mind, she clicked on one of the first video she saw. It was titled “Sonic ’06 Part 14: …”

She immediately regretted her choice when she saw the full title “Sonic ’06 Part 14: WHO WANTS TO BE SILVER’S B****??” The video began with someone yelling out a slew of swear words while a deep voice laughed in the background. Nope. Satya immediately got out of the video as soon as she could. That was way too loud and brash. She tried scrolling over the first video in the series, maybe they wouldn’t be so ridiculous with the first video. After all, it was probably just going over the tutorial, how bad could that be? She didn’t take any chances this time though, and scrolled over the title instead of blindly clicking on it.

Sure enough the full title was “Sonic ’06 Part 1: I WISH FOR THE SWEET RELEASE OF DEATH”

She made a mental note to just avoid any games related to sonic after that. After a few more minutes of searching she decided to try a video titled “Ocarina of Time Part 7: Tone Deaf Jam Sessions”

Throughout the video Satya found herself becoming more confused than anything. When Junkrat wasn’t yelling during difficult parts of the game he was just talking with his friend with the deep gravelly voice. Most of what they said had barely anything to do with their task at hand. Instead they’d either make terrible jokes or simply talk about their day. It was all rather mundane, like they were just two friends catching up over lunch. Most of the time they barely paid any attention to the game, Junkrat getting easily sidetracked. At one point their discussion about motorcycle repairs got so intense Junkrat accidentally walked straight into an enemy and got killed. And the strange character of a gamer would either laugh or scream at his own negligence while his friend would make dry comments.

This is what made them so popular? She’d seen many gamers rise to fame by just screaming throughout their gameplay but this was different. Sure they yelled plenty when it was expected but more so they would be trying to have an ordinary conversations. So much so it caused them to actually play worse, which by all expectations would mean they’d lose an audience, not gain one.

Another thing that was strange to Satya, the fact that they never showed footage of themselves. Most other gamers put in an small video of themselves in the corner of the screen but not them, they just showed footage of their game. If someone were to mute the game they would never even know someone was adding commentary.

But at the same time as she watched several more videos in the Junker’s Ocarina of Time series she felt herself grow a tad jealous. Sometimes she’d spend hours putting together her outfit and make-up for each of her playthroughs and for all she knew the Junkers were just playing in their pajamas. Actually. in a few of their videos they actually confirmed they indeed did. Satya couldn’t help but think of all the time she could save only voicing over her game play, but she knew that since she already made a habit of filming herself play she’d only get massive backlash for suddenly changing her videos. Not to mention Vishkar would probably be very cross with her if she suddenly stopped showing regular footage of herself using their products.

She stopped herself halfway through their series so she could go back to editing her videos, she still had her job to do after all. But as she went through her recording and began to piece together her video she kept mulling over Junkrat’s offer.

As her luck, or maybe her misfortune, would have it she had been invited to two different panels at the convention Junkrat had mentioned. Vishkar had already paid for her flight there and a room for the entire week. She would be there for the whole duration of the convention as well as the few days before, so she could afford the free time… Despite the email being a nightmare to read, he seemed nice enough. Maybe not a person she’d think to do a collaboration with, but it was still an interesting offer.

As for all the poor jokes, screaming and ridiculousness maybe it was all just an internet persona he and his partner put on for their show. Everyone who starred on a channel altered their personality one way or another. Even Satya had in creating her persona Symmetra. And despite being very much the same, Symmetra had never been a carbon copy of real-life self. Though Satya had to admit it would be nice to edit herself and her conversations much like she edited her videos, save herself from many embarrassing moments. Maybe the crazy persona of Junkrat was just that and Jamison Fawkes was a much more reasonable person to work with, one who just happened to have poor grammar. At least she hoped so…

But even if not, perhaps this could be the start of something. If she agreed to Junkrat’s invitation maybe it could open doors to more collaborations with the online gaming community. While she enjoyed working independently and was never one for large crowds or their chaotic noise she never hated the thought of having a few more friends online who she could interact with beyond the odd email every couple weeks.

Before she got too ahead of herself however, Satya realized she’d definitely have to ask Vishkar for permission before anything else. She hadn’t even thought of them. Would they even allow her to do crossovers? Especially with a persona as rash and vulgar as the Junker gamers? She decided to email them to ask before responding to Junkrat at all, just to be sure. And after she finished editing her current video of course. By the end of the day the newest episode in her playthrough of “The Deer God” was successfully uploaded and a full email was sent to Vishkar. Asking about a potential crossover and pleading her case for why it could be a further advancement for her channel.

Though as the email notification popped up on her screen, she couldn’t completely decide if she hoped they would say yes or no.

 

~~~~

 

A month later, and two days before the convention Satya wished Vishkar had said no.

If there were any difference between Jamison Fawkes and his online persona of Junkrat it was microscopic.

They had agreed to meet in the studio of some friends Junkrat knew to record their video. And when she had first arrived she still foolishly hoped that Jamison would be an actual person, and not the maniacal character he appeared like in all of his videos and emails. She couldn’t of imagined just how terribly, terribly wrong she had been.

After twenty minutes of nervously pacing around the small lobby of the recording studio Junkrat finally arrived. The only way Satya even knew it might be him was the sudden shouting and commotion outside and a car horn ringing out obnoxiously loud. That alone made her want to stay inside. But when even the receptionist hurried outside to see what was happening Satya decided enough was enough and she ought to find out what on earth the alleged Junkrat had done that was so outrageous. But as soon as she stepped outside and saw him she regretted it.

First of all was the parked car that looked like it had been crashed then left to rust for a hundred years. Chains and scrap metal decorated the thing as if it had just been driven out of an apocalypse. Then there was then man himself who stepped out of the car grinning from ear to ear.

A tall bean pole of a man crawled out of the vehicle, a raspy voice somehow shouting clearly over the growing crowd around them. His dusty goggles were pulled off his face and short blond hair that might have been gelled into spikes at one point were frazzled and wind blown out into every direction. And much to Satya’s fear the strange skin-tight grey shirt he was wearing wasn’t real. He was shirtless and that was all dirt.

There was only so much she could take, and as Junkrat and the crowd around him drew away from the car and towards the studio Satya raced back inside and to the restroom. She brought hands up to her scalp and groaned. Whatever hopes she had for this recording session going normally were dying and dead. How on earth was she supposed to work with that maniac? She wished she could just sneak back out of this studio and hide in her hotel. Maybe they’d believe her if she said she was sick all of a sudden and couldn’t make it in today?

But she’d already made a promise to record and they surely knew she was here by now. So instead she took and few deep breaths, splashed some cool water on her face and smoothed down her hair. And checking herself one last time in the restroom mirror, she went out to go meet Jamison “Junkrat” Fawkes in person.

She counted her lucky stars that the crowd that had come in had finally dispersed though it did little to quell the churning in her gut as she walked up to Junkrat. His back was turned from her as he talked with two other people Satya slightly recognized from other channels. As she approached Junkrat made no movement that he knew she was there. She looked to the two other people he was talking to but they made no effort to let him know either. That worry twisting her insides only coiled tighter at the awkwardness. For a moment she feared she’d have to tap him on his gross, dirt-coated shoulder, she hated anyone touching her in such an abrupt manner and dreaded having to do so to another person only slightly less. Instead, she cleared her throat loudly, a little rude Satya had to admit but at least she avoided having to touch him, and that finally got the Junker to turn around.

For a moment he looked completely lost and Satya feared for the worst but then his face suddenly lit up. “Oh! So we finally get to meet face to face, the great Symmetra! How’s it hanging!” He said. His voice could have almost sounded melodic if it weren’t so raspy.

When he put out a hand to shake Satya had to stop herself from recoiling, dirt coated his hands like gloves. “Uhhh…” Satya started, she didn’t want to be rude, but there was no way she’d ever want to touch that much dirt. Not even while held at gun-point. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance errr, Junkrat. But I’d rather not shake hands if I can help it.”

“Wut?” He said looking between her and his hand before realization finally dawned on his face again. “Oh yeah! Sorry about that, completely forgot I was wearing this stuff. Me and a few of my best mates just got done filming a prank video! It’s gonna be hilarious!”

Satya had seen a few pranking videos here and there, though she never was realty fond of any of them, but she’d never seen anything as outlandish as Junkrat’s get-up. And all for a prank-video? “And what sort of prank is this for?”

Junkrat smiled proudly with mischief clear on his face. “Mad Max. We signed up our car outside for Uber and then we went around town scaring the shit out of people! It was amazing, like we just rolled out of the apocalypse! I think my favorite when this little kid did the Sign of the V8 to us. It was just the cutest, you should have been there!” He looked like he would of kept going but then he shook his head and stopped himself. “But look at me going on and on when there’s a video to be made! I’ll show you back to the studio, we can pick out a game and get started!”

“Wait!”

Junkrat had been ready to leave when he turned back around to face Satya. “Yeah? Something wrong?”

“Aren’t you…” Satya really couldn’t find a nice way to say thing. But even if Junkrat didn’t, Satya at least had standards she hoped he could go by! There was only so much she could take today before she just overloaded. “Aren’t you at last going to try washing some of that… stuff off before we record?”

Junkrat gave her a blank look and then shrugged his shoulders. “Alright. I’ll just show you where we’ll be recording and you can get yourself all situated while I try and freshen up. Then we can find a game and go from there!”

To Junkrat’s credit he at least tried to wash off some of the dirt and make-up, Satya had to at least give him that. Even if it wasn’t much and when he came back into the recording studio he was more muddy than anything, she could tell he had at least try. He mentioned using a sealant on his arms and face which helped explain why it was such a pain to get off instead of normal dirt. Even if it still irked her and made want to grind her teeth in annoyance she could still realize that he’d tried at least.

Unfortunately, that was the last time he put forth any effort for the rest of their playthrough. 

It started off mundanely enough. Together they had decided an old puzzle-platformer for their one-off crossover video. And after setting everything up, cameras, game, times, they stated recording and went through with introductions. It all went so smoothly, Satya decided she must have been lulled into a false-sense of security by it.

Then, inevitably perhaps, Junkrat grew bored. Just a little past the ten-minute marker it began. He had been telling her about his experience so far in America, Satya had actually been interested in what he was talking about, when he started trailing off suddenly focusing more on the game than he had ever before. Satya should have suspected something then but it was already too late. Suddenly a weird chirp sound came from the game and the whole screen seemed to lag.

“Oh no.” He said in a voice lacking any real distress. “Whenever I try to go to this room, everything gets all wonky.”

A look a pure mischief was on his face and Satya realized she wasn’t going to be in one of the calm JunkerGamer videos where they talk about their days, this was going to be a Sonic ’06 type of playthrough.

It all went downhill from there. Junkrat kept messing with the weird room, and at first Satya tried not to let it affect her. It was Junkrat’s channel he could make whatever mindless glitch-abusing video he liked. But it just… it was becoming way too much. She tried saying something, that he should just leave the stupid room before he broke the game and he’d just laughed. The game’s music grew more distorted, the pixelated designs started flashing. At that point Satya had snapped at him. That finally got him to turn and look at her.

“You alright?”

And then the game crashed.

But of course it couldn’t be an ordinary crash where the game just shuts itself down. No, instead the whole screen became flashes or blue and red and the whole game sounded like it was shrieking in chip-tune anguish, like a small robot was being murdered.

All she could see was red and she needed to get out of that room now. She could hear Junkrat and she told him to leave her alone. And then he’d left saying he’ll be back if she needed anything. She couldn’t clearly remember what happened after that but she found herself outside in the hallway. Breathing deeply through her nose, both her hands gripping her hair and unable to bring herself to look away from the floor. Normally she would have considered this an absolute, humiliating nightmare but at the moment she still felt too overwhelmed and pissed off.

She didn’t even know how long she was out there. But after some period of time, she heard someone coming down the hall and finally brought herself to look up. It was Junkrat, carrying two bottled waters and a plastic bag filled with snacks.

“Uhhhh, here.” He said, handing her the bottled water as a peace offering. She’d never seen him so shy before. She didn’t even know he could be shy.

She didn’t say anything back but still accepted the water.

“I… I am so sorry about that.” He said, fiddling with the bag of snacks instead of looking at her. “I shouldn’t of gone crazy on ya like that. Should of asked how you wanted things to go, from the start really.”

“You’re channel” Satya said.

“But it’s your crossover too… I’m sorry about all this, really. Do…” He took a deep breath to get whatever words he wanted to say in order and tried again. “Do you need me to call you a ride?”

The offer was tempting, so so tempting. She wanted to just go back to the hotel and forget this day ever happened. But at the same time, she still had a promise to go through with. Both of them had already told, even advertised to their fans that they were finally making this crossover. And Junkrat seemed sincerely sorry.

“No. I’ll stay.”

“Wait _wut_?” Junkrat was completely dumb-founded.

“On one condition.” Symmetra continued. “I pick out the game. We can still have commentary but I’d rather be in control.”

“Uh- yeah yeah, of course. Anything ya like.”

Massaging her head one last time, she pulled herself off the wall and together they walked back into the studio. She decided on “Endevor” an old game she’d been fond of back in her Newgrounds days. They set everything back up, wrote down their new time slot for editing later and tried their second attempt at a crossover video. Satya started the game with the keyboard, explaining to Junkrat what it was about and how much she’d loved it long before she began filming her playthroughs. At one point or another she ended up handing the game over to Junkrat to play and he seemed to enjoy it as well, mentioning how he always liked games with a free-world the most. He even finished his story about being in America. She realized somewhere between the American snacks she knew must sound awful on the mics and the calmer game and music she’d stumbled into something that felt right in the middle of one of her own playthroughs and one of Junkrat’s “talk-about-your-day” ones. It was all so pleasant. She was actually having fun.

But much sooner then either of them had expected, their time in the studio was up and they said their goodbyes before ending their video.

As Satya left for her ride Junkrat followed her out to the lobby of the studio.

So I’ll get the video done and send ya the finished copy before posting it anywhere?”

Satya nodded and smiled slightly. “Sounds like a fair plan.”

Her ride drew into the parking lot and she turned back to Junkrat. “Good bye then, Junkrat.”

“Thank you for doing this, really it’s been a lot of fun.”

Satya wasn’t too sure what to say, certainly not ‘you’re welcome’ though the words seemed to impulsively come to mind. “I enjoyed this myself. It went much better than I had expected.” Hopefully that sounded alright.

“Glad to hear it.” He said smileing. “But honest I gotta make it up to you.”

“No need.” She said, politeness being more like e a knee reaction.

“No no I mean it. Just say the word and I’ll make it happen.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She said as she stepped into the car. “Take care of yourself, Junkrat.”

“Same goes to you ‘Metra!” He said waving.

Then just like that

 

~~~

 

Much later Junkrat went to work with Roadhog editing a bunch of their footage from the day. They’d been hoping to get thse videos out by the weekend in time for the convention. Hog was working on the Mad Max prank while he did the crossover with Symmetra.

So far it looked like the crossover video was going to be a bit shorter, barely scraping 15-minutes, than the normal half-hour material the Junker Gamers usually worked with. Junkrat had been tempted to use some of the recordings from the first half of their recording session but decided against it. Being an ass was only funny if A: the person you’re dealing with was a cunt or B: They were in on the joke and knew what was going on, and Symmetra had been neither.

But even being cut short, overall Junkrat considered this crossover a technical success. Sure, they may have gotten off on the wrong foot. And sure, the one and only Symmetra, calmest voice on the internet, had yelled at him and called him an ass. And sure, at one point she was about ready to walk out on their recording. And, actually if Junkrat were to grade himself on the overall this would be a failure, no arguments. Luckily Junkrat wasn’t looking at the overall, he was looking at the end result. And after finally getting his head out of his ass, and talking things through they had actually made a successful crossover playthrough. He’d even enjoyed himself the second half of their game. And Symmetra had become much more relaxed too.

He’d actually felt terrible that she’d gotten so overwhelmed, especially since he’d had his own moments of sensory overload and knew how much it sucked. He should have seen all those signs early on and backed off but instead he’d kept pushing and pushing, trying to be funny and keep the show going.

He counted himself lucky she didn’t leave the studio all together, he certainly would of if he were in her place. And thankfully while their playthrough at least ended on a high note he felt like he should really try making it up to her. Definitely this week before the convention. But what would someone like Symmetra even like? They’d talked some while playing their game but in the end he still didn’t know that much about her.

Roadhog’s deep laugh pulled him from his thoughts. “Oh fuck, Jamie look at this!”

Junkrat crawled out of his chair and leaned over Roadhog’s shoulder to see what he was laughing at. It was a clip of when they’d finally gotten to the studio. He and hog were doing their thing, being crazy and scary when in the background was Symmetra. She came out of the front doors to the studio and when she saw them her face contorted in sheer terror like a deer in headlights before bolting back inside. Roadhog had gone back over the video and zoomed in on her, and started adding the caption “nope” as she ran away. Normally something like that would have made him cackle but right now it only felt like his guts were sinking.

Junkrat started rapidly tapping Roadhog’s shoulder before he could add the clip into full video. “Hog, Hog, wait! Don’t add that in. I never got permission from ‘Metra.”

“You sure? Looks pretty funny.”

“Yeah, she was having a crappy day and- just don’t add that in.”

“Ok...” Roadhog began, he hadn’t heard Junkrat sound so worried. Not in a long time, not since they started their channel. “Everything go alright with her?”

Junkrat chewed at his lip a little before answering. “I guess so, we did ok. At the beginning I was doing my usual shit, fucking up the game and she wasn’t having it. She actually got real upset before we took a break. I thought she was going to walk out on our crossover. Can see why though, I was being a real cunt.”

“And that’s your idea of ok?” Hog added dryly.

“Hey! Things got better after we took a break!” Junkrat snapped. “We finished off the recording, shorter than I would of hoped but that’s my own fault. And at least we ended it without wanting to tear off eachother’s heads… Still wanna make it up to her though.”

“Well you better get cracking then. Cause you got less than a week to do something.” Roadhog rumbled before going back to work on their prank video. And as Junkrat followed suit his mind was a buzz trying to find ideas.

He didn’t want to do anything cheap and faceless like a fruit-basket or any of that sort of shit. He had to make this a bit more sincere, to let her know he was actually sorry. And he wasn’t sure quite why, maybe for the sake of vindication or something. But he wanted her to know that he understood where she was coming from, that they were both a bit more alike than she even knew. But most of all he hoped that by making this up to her they could actually become friends.

But what on earth would she like? He decided later after he finished up their crossover he’d go watch some more of her videos and try finding any clues that might be there. He knew she liked really pretty-peaceful-artsy-type games so maybe he could build off of that…

 

~~~

 

On the day before the start of the convention, Satya received a package sent to her hotel room. It was a light-blue and gold-trimmed box, sloppily wrapped by someone who obviously had little experience. And on the tag she found out it was from Junkrat.

Unsure of what she might find she tentatively unwrapped the gift. Inside was a homemade playlist of songs, some of which she didn’t recognize while other she did, she was surprised to find a few of her favorite themes on the CD as well. On the CD Junkrat had scribbled out “’Metra’s Jamz” as well as the small smiley face that littered the Junker’s videos. There were a few other things in the box as well, a bound journal (also blue with gold trim), a few gift cards to cafés in the area, a handful of American and Australian candies. But what ultimately caught her eye was a note that was shoved into the bottom of the box instead of on the outside like most letters. It was an apology from Junkrat, and that he hoped they could meet up again sometime during the convention.

She was surprised to say the least, she’d assumed that after their recording that would be the last she ever heard of Junkrat. And now here was this, yet another thing completely unexpected. But also so kind, seldom had someone else been the one to apologize, she was so use to having to apologize to other people for her outbursts and yet Junkrat not only did but went out of his way to make up for it. She wasn’t sure what to think of it all. She did hope that they could see each other again at the convention.


	3. Day 3: Fluff/Angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for today we had to decide between fluff or angst and I chose... Angst! (Originally I was going to try incorporating both fluff and angst but i decided to go all out.) 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Everything felt like it was wrapped in thick, dark velvet. His arms, his legs, along the insides of his eyes, even the inside of his head had this stuffed feeling. He couldn’t do anything. Couldn’t move, couldn’t think beyond a sleepy haze of consciousness. But instead of feeling trapped and claustrophobic it actually felt… nice to him. Like he was being hugged by a really large blanket. It made he feel safe.

And he could feel something blue holding his right hand. And a swirl of other colors sparked out from the darkness and clung to his side.

But just like that what little consciousness he felt began slipping away just as quickly as it came. And he fell back into dreamless sleep.

~~~

It had been half a day since they brought Jamison back to Gibralter but Satya couldn’t bring herself to leave his side.

He’d always had this scrappy look, lanky and unruly, but never fragile. Now though he was so pale, so thin, so weak. He looked like he would shatter if she even tried touching him. A paranoid part of her mind worried that it wasn’t really him.

What if this was just some decoy made by talon to Trojan horse their way into the base? As treacherous as it sounded Satya would have happily accepted it over this. Jamison use to brag that he could survive anything, like a roach he’d said, and yet now he looked so broken that he could fade away in his sleep. Angela ensured her that that would never happen, that Junkrat wouldn’t parish under her watch but she still feared the worst. What else could she do? She felt like she was going mad here just watching Jamison. She knew he needed time to recover and heal but at the same time she needed him right now.

It’s been nearly an entire month since she saw him. He’d disappeared during their last mission, the whole team was dispatched to help defend several subjects in Oasis when a whole army of Talon forces came after them. But when the fighting stopped and the dust cleared one team never reported back to Winston. Hana, Lucio and Junkrat had been sent to defend the University area and when the rest of Overwatch went down to the area to find them they were all gone.

If Satya had ever feared for her lift it was then. Roadhog had been a thing of pure rage. He’d threatened to kill everyone, everyone in Overwatch, Talon, even the “useless fucking suits” he’d been sent to protect if Junkrat and the others had been killed.

Now the colossal one-man apocalypse was sitting on the other side of the bed. He might have been sleeping sitting up or he might just be keeping silent vigil like her, she couldn’t tell from the mask hiding his face. Though his hair was let down it normal ponytail. He was sitting still but not tense like she was. And leaning up on his side was Lucio and Hana, the two must have fallen asleep while she was zoning out.

When the team found out where Talon had taken the three of them, Overwatch collectively came down on the base. It was something Talon had been planning for in their attempt of a trap but there was one thing they hadn’t anticipated and that was just how willing Symmetra, their whole team, and especially Roadhog were in hurting anything that came between them and their captured team members. She hadn’t seen Roadhog during the initial attack on the base but from the way everyone seemed to be avoiding him she could only imagine it had been a disturbing sight. Later in the attack she and a few other infiltrated the base only to find Roadhog already there and they all began the search.

They found Lucio and Hana locked in a cell the size of a small closet. And while physically neither of them had been badly hurt, the two obviously were wounded with psychological scars. It was heartbreaking to see two people who were normally so bubbly and bright so dulled and frightened. Even if she never saw eye-to-eye with Lucio but she never would have wished this onto him, onto anyone in Overwatch. Shakily the two told them during their first week Junkrat had been in there with them when suddenly they had taken him out and that was the last time they’d seen him. The heaviness sitting around her heart for an entire month twisted tighter and tighter when she heard that.

And after seeing how she’d reacted Ana told her that she couldn’t go with them. Satya had tried to argue with her but everyone else seemed to agree with her. So while the others continued infiltrating the base Satya went with Mei and carried Lucio and Hana out of the Talon lair to safety.

She’d been stuck on the ship, keeping guard and waiting. Finally everyone had comeback, Satya had been relieved only to have that relief dashed just as quickly as it came when she saw Jamison’s state. As Angela set him onto stretcher she’d thought she was dead until she saw the feather light rise and fall of his chest.

And now here she was. Still waiting.

There was so much she needed to say to Jamie. Before their mission in Oasis, the two of them had gotten into a nasty argument. Vishkar had been asking if she could leave her position from Overwatch and return to help with a demanding but highly important job in designing the new quarter of Utopaea that would house thousands of families immigrating to the city. It would be impossible to try performing both this task as well as her current work alongside Overwatch and she was promised that she could return to the team once her work in designing the neighborhoods was complete.

It was a deal she thought would be fair, if only it hadn’t involved her also leaving Jamison for such an unknown period of time as well. Still though, the idea of working as a true architect again, the challenge of building to her true potential, the hope and legacy of helping so many find sanctuary in her city was a very tempting offer. So much so she felt she couldn’t refuse. Many on Overwatch, including Junkrat of course, thought she could refuse very easily. They’d argued and both had said cruel things they’d wanted to take back. And they’d decided that after the Oasis Mission they’d have an honest, civil conversation, talk everything out and put everything on the table as Jamie had put it.

But that conversation never happened.

She’d been so distraught, and when she left to work again temporarly with Vishkar everything just felt so unright. She spent a month doing nothing but sketch designs from hard light, making one of the most beautiful cityscapes she wanted, pouring her soul into each street and arched doorway. But when she got a call from Overwatch saying they found Jamie and the others she’d dropped everything. She told Sanjay and her superiors that it was an emergency which it was in every sense of the word.

And now here she was, still holding vigil over the man who come to mean so much to her. She still had to go back to Vishkar and finish what she started but until she saw Jamison Fawkes awake and full of life she didn’t think any force could move her from this spot.

Not legacy, not architects, not heroes, not villains, not Roadhog, not even her own pride…

She kept waiting.

~~~

Slowly Junkrat could feel himself waking up. Little by little, like a bot rebooting, bits and pieces of him felt like they were trying to come back to life. But at the same time he felt so, so _tired_. Just the thought of lifting his eyelids felt exhausting.

And there were all those colors again, twinkling all around him like little sparklers he liked to make for the holidays. And there was something holding his hand, it felt warm and for some reason Junkrat couldn’t figure out it felt blue.

But he didn’t have a right hand. His hand had been gone now for years.

That finally sent Junkrat’s eyes peeling open and the blue feeling and his hand both disappeared with it.

There was a soft light above him, and he was sitting in a soft bed, blankets wrapped all around him. His eyes began to focus more and he realized the painfully pristine clean ceiling could only be that of Mercy’s back at Overwatch.

So he’d finally gone loopy enough to imagine himself back here? Most of his dreams had put him back in the Outback or even his bedroom in the Gibralter base. But never here, he hated this place. Maybe it was some sorta trap set up by those Talon cunts. Make him get all nice and secure, get him to actually believe he’d been rescued then WHAM! They’d pull the rug out from under him and they’d go back to torture and mind-melting. They were getting lazy, they’d already tried this before, made him think he was back in Oz and that none of Overwatch or his heists with Hog ever happened.

He looked around a bit, this simulation was really believable and he wondered if they’d try shocking him again. It had left his brain all staticky and buzzy the last time they’d done that.

He finally willed his head to turn to the side and he realized just how badly Talon wanted to break him.

“S-Satya?”

~~~

Satya had been zoning out once more when a raspy, small voice came from the cot. And her head snapped down to see Jamison looking back at her.

She had to physically stop herself from embracing him, he was still terribly hurt. “Jamison! Oh my- Jamaison!”

“…G’day.” He smiled, but it seemed to pinch his face.

“I- I thought you were dead!” She could feel tears pricking her eyes but she could have cared less.

“Nope… not yet… I didn’t think they knew about us. They may be a bunch of monstrous cunts but I gotta give credit where it’s due, you look just like’er. Beautiful.”

Whatever fluttering relief in Satya began wilting as she heard that. “Jamie? What are you talking about?”

“I love ya to pieces Satya, but you and those Talon fucks ain’t getting shit outta me.”

“Jamie… Jamie you aren’t in Talon anymore. We rescued you. You’re home.”

As they’d talked Hana and Lucio had slowly awoken and realized Junkrat was conscious. They were at his side in seconds excitedly trying to talk to him a mile a minute, to reassure him they were all safe now. But shook his head and scrunched his eyes close as if he were trying to wish them all away. “No… not you guys too…”

“No! We’re all real! I’ll prove it! Come on pinch me!” Hana said shoving her arm towards Junkrat’s face. “Can’t pinch a hologram.”

“No… I can’t do this…” Satya had never herd Junkrat sound so broken, so distressed.

“It’s all right man, we’re all safe now. It’s gonna be ok.” Lucio added trying to be reassuring.

“They’re telling the truth.” Roadhog rumbled standing up behind the two superstars.

Seeing Roadhog must off broken something in him because then tears began spilling down Jamison’s face. “I-… I’m gonna be so fuckin’ pissed if this is just another trick.”

“It’s no trick, Jamaison. We would never do anything to hurt you.” Satya said unshed tears beginning to sting her own eyes.

Jamison tried lifting his casted hand up to touch Satya’s face but he could only move so far so Satya leaned in much closer and brought her own hand up to caress his face too.

“Satya” He murmured sighing in relief.

“What are you all doing in here?!”

Satya almost fell onto Jamie’s cot when she suddenly Soldier 76 was at the front door to the infirmary. He marched quickly over to them and tore her away from Jamison despite her attempt at protest.

“Everyone get away from him right now!”

“What the hell!” Jamie demanded but 76 all but ignored him.

Hana cried as Soldier 76 pulled her and Lucio up and away from the cot. “Wait! Please don’t make us leave! We would never hurt him!”

“It’s not you hurting him that I’m worried about.” He said through gritted teeth.

He looked pointedly at Roadhog but the man just crossed his arms, glaring back at 76 from behind his mask. “I’m not moving for shit.” He growled.

“We don’t know what Talon did to him. For all we know your Junkrat might not even be in there anymore.” 76 peered down and Junkrat while pointedly ignoring the Hog trying to decapitate him with a fiery gaze. He stared deeply into Jamie’s face like he was looking for something. And weakly he tried to return the gaze. Soldier 76 huffed a sigh before straightening back up.

Angela came into the room as soon as she heard all the commotion. “Jack what is the meaning of this! I told them they could all stay.”

“And I can’t have another case like the Widowmaker happen under our noses.” Mercy looked pained by the comment but stepped away from 76 as he spoke. “Until we know for sure they didn’t do anything to him he can’t be trusted. For now we let him recover but as soon as he’s better he’s answering to me.”

“I ain’t leaving.” Roadhog repeated.

“For all we know he might kill you.”

“Wouldn’t be the first to try.” Roadhog said, somehow sounding both smug and sad.

Soldier 76 looked like he wanted to fight Hog more on the matter but instead he relented. “Fine. You can stay.” But then he turned to Satya and the others he’d pulled off the bedside. “But you three get out of here. Go sleep in real beds.”

Satya wanted to fight him on this, she really did but the look Angela was sending her from behind the Soldier was clearly saying. No. Please don’t make this worse.

So with Lucio and Hana at her sides the three of them left Junkrat in the care of Roadhog, Angela and Soldier 76.

And Satya was back to waiting.


	4. Day 4: Role Reversal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's day four! We're officially half-way through Symmrat week!
> 
> This is my take on their role reversal. And personally, even if their background stories are switched I still like to think they both still keep their talents with explosions and hard-light. But instead of making his stuff from scratch Junkrat had a life-time of experience and tony stark-level attention over his weapons. And then Satya is the one who makes her turrets from scrap and is obsessed with reverse engineering hard-light.

When he’d first joined Overwatch, Jamison wasn’t sure what to expect. He’d never really had friends, going straight from school to a fully-fledged career all through Hyde Global he’d been one of their finest chemical engineers and weapons expert. But he’d always been called a shut-in and knew embarrassingly well that most the other engineers he worked with never thought highly enough of him. Not even in their days together at the academy. The one time he’d tried approaching them on the matter they said he always made things awkward, that he was always so loud and unfiltered, also annoying, never shutting up. He never bothered trying to talk to them after that. It still made him a bit bitter. He knew he was different, but that had just made him all the more important to Hyde. He could do things, make things no one else could. His controlled light explosions had been a breakthrough in the industrial world. At least, that’s what Hyde’s suits had always said to him when he was first starting out. He’d done so much for Hyde Global, he’d given an arm and a leg for that company. Literally.

So when Overwatch came back from the dead and HG wanted a representative on the team, he was very skeptical. Why would Overwatch want Hyde Global’s weapons expert when no one in that company seemed to care much about beyond his bombs and weapon designs?

He could have never predicted just how quickly the Overwatch team would worm its way into his life. That for one he’d be a member of a team, that the people he worked with would honestly have his back, and that he’d actually enjoy working in a group instead of on his own like usual. That after a year on the team he’d be best mates with people like the gaming legend Lucio, or pop-sensation Hana Song, that one was especially surprising seeing how she’d become famous for her blatant opposition to Hyde’s presence in Busan, South Korea. And yet now they were some of his best friends.

And he would have never, ever expected Satya.

A new recruit, just like he was. That however was where any initial similarities between them had come to an abrupt halt. When she arrived at the Overwatch headquarters, she was wearing tattered clothes, hair unruly and ragged, and a thick layer of dirt clung to her skin. He’d learned a bit later that she was from the wastelands of India, and allegedly she knew deep secrets about Vishkar tech, a company that had just begun developing something called “hard-light” when the Indian Omnium blew up and along with over a third of the nation and the rest of Asia, destroyed Vishkar before it could truly lift off the ground. Satya was one of many abandoned people left to fend for themselves. She was silent as death and never took her eyes off any of them, as if expecting them all to turn on her at a moment’s notice.

And for a while that’s how things were in their team. But slowly, slower than anyone could have truly seen, things began to change. Satya began to open up to the rest of the group, put more trust in them. And Jamison was too, much to his surprise. What had started as a temporary gig for him had turned into one of the happiest times in his life. People who started out as just heroes and strangers he would work with had turned into friends and family he couldn’t imagine leaving. And Satya. Satya had turned into so much for Jamie, he could have never prepared himself for how much Satya would mean to him.

 How much he would fall in love with her.

Her eyes, there was just such an energy hidden in them. A fire she held as she turned metal scraps and rubbish into beautiful weapons in the labs. The fire that seemed to explode out of her whenever they went on missions, going from silent and calculating to striking down their enemies, the ones who’d been foolish enough to underestimate her traps and her power. In quieter moments, far away from battles and payloads, that fire would crackled softly with such a warmth whenever she laughed at his jokes, whenever she got lost in thought, whenever she smiled. She was brilliant, she was amazing and it scared Jamison to think that he’d fallen so hard for someone in such a short time.

Then one night Satya pulled him aside in the workshop, said she wanted to tell him something important, but she couldn’t tell him in the Overwatch base. That there were too many cameras hidden everywhere and they needed to get somewhere unwired.

Jamison had foolishly agreed and now seemingly for hours the two of them drove out of Gibraltar. The city became a small blip far behind them as they drove further and further inland away from the sea. Until finally they reached a safe house hidden far into the woods.

“Mei and I set this place up during our heists.” Satya explained as she got out of the driver’s seat. 

It certainly looked like the type of building quickly rebuilt while on the run. Once it might have been an old cottage but now high-security devices outlined every window and the door. As they stepped in Satya directed Jamie how to step over all the traps that lay hidden all around the front entrance. Until finally they were both sitting on the floor of the living room as the only furniture was a musty matress in one corner of the room.

After rechecking the entire safe house one last time, she sat down next to Jamison. “Nothing leaves this room.” She said steely.

“Of course.” Jamison said, unsure exactly what he had been dragged into.

“You swear?”

“I swear, Satya.” He wasn’t sure what Satya was about to reveal, but not matter what it was Jamison rationalized that nearly nothing her secret could be would make him leave this room.

“Ok...” Satya took a deep breath, looking quickly to the door before locking eyes again with Jamison. “You wondered how I know so much about Vishkar’s hard-light? Well… this is my secret.”

She then began taking apart her mechanical arm.

But instead of removing it from its detachable joint on what was left of her upper arm, she began ripping off bits and parts. The arm she’d held so much pride in, she always bragged about how she made her arm completely on her own from metal scraps and wiring she could find in the Indian ruins. It had been her pride and joy. She’d refused everyone’s help, even Jamison’s, when they offered to upgrade her arm. And now she was tearing it apart like it was nothing to her.

Jamison was about to protest when he saw a flash of white emerge as the she slowly took apart the arm. It couldn’t be… It was impossible…

But slowly Satya took off all the scraped pieces, Jamison realized that the arm had just been a shell. Made only to hide a beautiful, pristine, sleek arm. And when the palm began glowing with a brilliant blue light Jamison couldn’t deny it any further.

It was a Viskar prosthetic gauntlet. Possibly one of the last in existence.

Jamison felt speechless, Vishkar was a tall tale, an Arthurian legend. So many people he knew at Hyde had said “hard-light” couldn’t even theoretically exist. And yet here it was. Beams of light were being bent into prisms effortlessly in Satya’s control. “H-How?”

“One time when I was younger and foolish I attempted to scavenge the Vishkar ruins. It cost me my left arm but in turn I discovered something much more valuble…”

“Oh my god Satya… It’s amazing.”

She smiled and brought the gauntlet closer. “Try it, pinch the light to make a shape…”

Jamison was tentative to touch the light. He felt like he was about to touch the holy grail of engineering. He watched as his hand was illuminated by the light and he attempted to pinch the light as Satya had instructed. It took him a few times to try gripping the light but the fourth time he tried something seemed to suddenly connect and the hard-light followed his hand, fanning out in into triangles. He grinned up at Satya who smiled back.

“If anything happens to me. I want you to have my arm.”

Jamison looked up at her surprised. The way she said it, she sounded so certain.

She continued before he could say anything. “It’d be a pity if it ended up left in a museum, collecting dust and going unused. Something like this deserves to be used. To its complete potential. That’s why I want you to have it, Jamison.”

“Satya, you don’t have to

“Ok… but just in case.” Satya pressed moving closer, closing her gantlet around Jamison’s hand. “Please, promise me you’ll keep it safe?”

“I swear I’ll never let anything happen to your arm, darl.” He murmured, kissing Satya’s beautiful hand.  And he raised his head to look Satya directly in the eyes. “But I’ll be a dead man before I let anything happen to you either.”

Satya frowned at that, looking away from him and down at her arm. “Thank you Jamison, but I’m not as important.”

“You are to me. And much more precious too.” Jamison said gently taking hold of her chin and looking back into her eyes. Ad before he could think against it he leaned in and pressed his lips warmly against hers.

That night he learned an invaluable secret, one that could destroy corporations, entire nations if wielded wrongly. But most importantly to Jamison, he realized just how much Satya loved and trusted him. And in that night he finally placed his whole heart and trust in her too.


	5. Day 5: Weddings and Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For today's prompt I decided to have it take place from the perspective of an overwatch OC of mine, Fae, looking back at her family's past. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also IDK how, but if you ever find this Shivani I named a character after you and there's nothing you can do about it! Ha ha! (Shivani's an IRL bud of mine since kindergarten.)

Fae always loved looking at Mom and Dad’s photo albums. Going through them one disk at a time always made her feel like she was reading a story through the countless candid shots. A story about family coming together and growing into something bigger, much like the Overwatch organization itself. And even though she didn’t appear in any of the albums until the third disk when she was eight that she still held a place in the story. That her place in the Viswani Fawkes family was real.

The first disk was surrounded Mom and Dad only. The start of their relationship, their work and friendship with the rest of their team. It always made her heart warm, you could just see over the whole course of pictures how her Mom and Dad had slowly fallen deeper in love. One of Fae’s favorite pictures from the disk was a candid shot Aunt Hana always bragged about taking. Apparently Mom had made a joke that had made Dad laugh ridiculously and in the picture her Dad was captured mid-laugh, hands clutching his gut and a wide smile on his face and his hair appeared to be on fire. And her Mom, wearing her old Vishkar uniform watched, beaming with pride. Also it was one of the few pictures with Uncle Hog in it. He’d never liked having his picture taken but this had been one of the few exceptions. She really missed him… And the disk continued to their wedding. It was a small ceremony that took place on the beach in Gibralter. Mom looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress and Dad looked like an entirely different person from the man she knew with his hair neat and pulled back and stand back-straight in a suit. Fae always loved to play a game of eye-spy with all the old Overwatch members. As everyone was dressed in gowns and suites instead of all their normal armor.

The second disk was baby pictures of her brother and sister, When the Viswani/Fawkes family began to develop and grow. And from this disk her favorite picture was one of her older brother as a small newborn baby sleepy soundly on Dad’s chest somewhere outside the Gibralter base. It was sweet picture but the truer reason she loved it was because while the sight was misleadingly peaceful, when Bo went to find the spot it was actually a ledge 75 feet off the ground. Dad had somehow managed to climb up the entire ledge with a newborn child. Not to mention somehow a picture had been taken of the two of them as well.

Then came Shivani and her album on the third disk. Shivani was a young architect and lawyer protégé with Vishkar when the corporation fell apart. She’d been taken in as an orphan and when the company went under she had no place to go so Mom had taken her under her wing. Now Shivani was like a big sister to her and her siblings. As for Fae this is where her pictures began as well.

She was what the government and media in Australia had dubbed “second-generation omnium survivors”. Kids who had been born out in the wastelands long after the Omnium blew. Kids like her were known to have a melting-pot of genetic mutations and diseases due to being born in such a hazardous world. Most never lived past twenty. Even Fae who managed to luck for the most part in the health department had still been born with her fair-share of scars. If she were lucky enough to grow any hair it was thin and frail and was an off-white peach color. And all across her face and upper torso were these discolorations that made her skin look like it were covered in sores like a leper. She couldn’t remember much of her life in the outback, she knew she must have had some sort of family that kept her alive but even now in her late twenties she could only see blurry faces and endless miles and miles of sandy wasteland in her memories. When she was a kid, Australian finally got its act together to try and solve what they’d dubbed “the post-omnium crisis” and transport people out of the area and into the cities. However they aid had come years too late and the only people they could get to leave the Junkertown were children. Though the news casters always said “second-generation omnium survivors” to make the operation sound like less of a failure. And all these “second-generation omnium survivors” were tossed into overflowing orphanages with little hope of being adopted. Many of them died from unnoticed and untreated medical conditions caused by radiation before they could age out of the agency.

And even though she only possessed a skin-level mutation she’d had a miserable time when she’d been sent to an adoption agency. Other kids said she was diseased, some had even called her a monster. And she hated the way the few families coming in praised for their “altruistic grace in wanting to adopt such wild and unruly poor children” would cringe at her when they were introduced. She had feared that she was never going to be adopted and she have just stayed in Junkertown.

Until one day when she was nine, one very strange-looking family came to the orphanage. The Mom and kids seemed ordinary enough but the Dad walked around on a peg leg and had a robotic arm. She’d never seen anyone in the city have such scrappy looking prosthetics. And there was a second man with them, he was colossal. Bigger than any person she’d seen before, and rounder too. And he wore a leather pig-shaped mask to hide his face. As soon as they saw her they all came over and introduced themselves. Fae had been ready for them to say goodbye and move on to the prettier-looking kids but much to her surprise they stayed with her all day. Playing games with her, listening to her stories, listening to everything she said actually. They’d even taken her out to lunch where ever she liked. And one week later the stacks of paper work began and a few months later she officially became Fae Viswani Fawkes.

Sometimes Fae felt some bitterness that she never had an album like the second disk. She would never know what she looked like as an infant, if she always had her discolorations, or what her parents looked like. But as she looked over disk 3, at the photos of younger her playing with Mom as she made hard-light snowflakes, at her birthday being in awe as Dad used a blowtorch to light the sparkler on her cake, sitting up on Uncle Hog’s shoulders, she still felt this nostalgic warmth and content. She may have had a terrible start but somehow she still ended up in the care of Satya and Jamison Viswani Fawkes. She ended up with a family, that she was loved and cared for. That she had truly come far and that there were more disks of photos yet to be made.

And now she was keeping her family’s legacy alive working alongside them and all her friends in Overwatch. Donning on a mask and taking flight on hard-light wings, supporting her teammates from the air. Trying in the way’s she learned to make the world a better place. Just like her Mom and Dad and Uncle Hog had…


	6. Day 6: WASH THE RAT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here... The day we've all been waiting for...
> 
> Or me at least! When I first heard that this would be a prompt I got so excited I made a pixel art to go along with it! (It's over on my tumblr page: http://siodymph.tumblr.com/post/155873994001/symmrat-week-day-6 ) Hope you enjoy!
> 
> ((Also I realize that I've been having so much fun writing these two, why should it stop at Symmrat week? So for the entire week, until the 22nd I'll accept any non-nsfw prompts and requests for Symmrat and post those in a separate story but make it apart of the same series. So don't be shy and send me as many as you like!))

 

It had been a little over half a year since Overwatch had been recalled, as well as hired their new recruits. And finally now after their last major mission against Talon had become publicly known across the globe. It was inevitable really. Satya just counted it good luck that their mission had gone so successfully. If it hadn’t they all might be in high-security prison. Instead, they were preparing for a Gala event tomorrow evening and the UN was going to pardon everyone later this month. Satya was fine with this, she’d had gained much experience with formal events of nearly every category through her work with Vishkar. And if she were honest, it had been a long time since she’d last been able to dress up and attend a party and found herself looking forwards to tonight.

There was one aspect of the gala however that worried her, and that involved her boyfriend.

Satya had to give him credit, thankfully so far he had agreed to accept her help for tonight. He’d let her teach him some basic table etiquette so he knew which forks were which. And he’d happily agreed to learn so basic dance steps for any ballroom dancing that might happen tomorrow night. He’d even agreed to wear a tux which he’d been much less thrilled about but eventually they’d found a black tux with blue and purple accents that fit his surprisingly tall frame. She’d had to harp on him about standing straight and rolling back his shoulders which he had grumbled about but eventually tried. Truly, up to this point they’d actually covered a lot of ground in the span of a few days, a speed cotillion course really. Satya was impressed.

There was a moment however that Junkrat finally drew the line. Satya knew it was coming and had hoped he’d see reason but…

“Just take a shower.”

“No.”

“Please Junkrat? I’m sure you’ll feel better.”

“No I won’t.”

“Junkrat it’s just-“

“No.”

Junkrat was really firm about where he drew the line.

What had started out as a disagreement had become a full stand-still. And she tried to see where Junkrat was coming from, she really did, but this was something that had to happen tomorrow night. Absolutely no exceptions. There was no way around this for Jamison.

“No one made me shower for battle? Why the hell do I got to shower now? Shouldn’t I just show up who I am?”

“Because,” Satya sighed as she tried to put the words in her head in working order. “Because Galas and balls like these aren’t for appearing as you usually do. They’re for people to dress and look the very best they can. To impress others and sell stories to the press and your corporate associates.”

“Well I ain’t got no suites to worry about.”

“It’s a formal event. Everyone has to suck it up and pretend to be someone else for the night.”

“Not you.” Junkrat tried, giving Satya a sweet smile. “You’re perfect already, beautiful.”

“Thank you but flattery will get you nowhere Junkrat.”

The smile fell off his face and turned back into that weird hybrid between a glower and a pout.

So far in their developing relationship the two had been accommodating of one another. They both realized that there were things that bothered them that the other could do nothing about. And instead of try and change one another they instead were accepting and never pushed one another past what they were comfortable with. So Jamison never grabbed or touched her by surprise and she never snapped her fingers in his face to try and catch his attention. And while Jamison never pushed her to go into large, chaotic crowds, she never pushed him to clean up more than was healthy and necessary.

And she knew Junkrat must have legitimate reasons for never showering. He’d never told her but she knew there must be one. Because he didn’t react to water like a defiant child, he acted like a scared cat, complete with the skin bristling and occasional hissing. She really wished there was a way around this. But you couldn’t go to a ball only rinsing off your face and arms in a sink. Just thinking about made her imagine her old instructor at Vishkar gasping in disgust and horror.

She just needed to find some way to meet all the needed requirements to getting Junkrat gala-ready without completely tossing him out of his comfort zone into open water which it felt like she was currently doing.

“What if I just say I got a skin condition or somethin’? People would believe that right?”

Satya didn’t even bother answering that one.

“Alroight, that one was stupid. I’ll admit that. But how’about this: I just wear a mask like Hog? Cause the tux ought to cover up my chest and then if I just cover up my face and put on some nice smelling crap no one will even notice. That could work right?”

“It would be much simpler if you just took a shower, Jamison.” Satya ground her fists into her forehead. This was getting nowhere! “If you won’t take a bath can you at least tell me why?”

“Why should I?” He asked snarling, distrust glowering his voice.

“Because I can’t find a solution if I don’t know what the problem is!” Jamison obviously had a problem, one that would actually require years of therapy with a professional and not a one-night fight with an untrained girlfriend. But she had to do something, maybe this could be a starting point to work off of.

So she took a deep breath recollecting her thoughts before speaking again. “Can you at least tell me the aspects of taking a shower that are so… disagreeable with you?”

“Uhhhh,” Junkrat looked away from Satya, twiddling both his prosthetic and human hand. “Well for one, I hate the way my skin feels afterwards. It’s either to dry and scratch or too greasy.”

“Maybe we can find you a soap that’s better suited for you then.” Satya added gently.

“But it always feels like I’m taking something away, like I’m scrubbing off and trying to be something I’m not. You know what I’m saying? Probably not, I don’t even know what I’m saying. And I can’t stand how your skin sorta shrivels up all wrinkly too. Worst though is it’s always a pain in the ass taking off the arm’n’leg. And trying to hop around on the wet tile without falling. The chair helps but it still takes forever to clean off since I only have one hand and all.”

She’d never even thought about that. Guilt settled uneasily on her insides. She always took for granted how her arm was water proof, it never occurred to her until now that Junkrat didn’t have the same abilities for his prosthetics.

“And I really hate how the water feels falling down on me. I know it’s probably stupid but it makes me feel like I’m suffocating…”

That Satya had noticed. Whenever it rained at the base Junkrat would high-tail it inside no matter what he was doing, even in the middle of testing bombs. And now she knew for certain it was a problem for him. She did have one potential idea, a theory really, of something that might work.

“Why don’t you take a bath instead?” She asked.

Junkrat looked at her blankly and she feared she’d hurt his feeling. Perhaps she had been too frank. But then he spoke. “… They got bath’s here?”

“Yes they’re in the back…”

“Really?” He hurried back to the end of the hall of showering stalls and sure enough there was a white-tiled bath way the led further back into a room with several tubs in between dividers. They were large. Big enough to double as hot tubs, Road hog could sit in one and they’re could be room for a few more people to sit down with him.

“Well would you look’at that!” He crowed, giggling as his voice echoed through the room and down the hall. “Work here for half-a year and never even seen this place! Eh, maybe I just forgot.”

“So you’re not opposed to taking a bath?” Satya asked hopeful.

“Ehhhhh,” Junkrat kept looking between the tubs and Satya. “I mean, I guess but like in the same way I guy about to get killed would rather get shot in the head than set on fire.”

Satya nodded and her brain was already churning with a plan. “Gruesome. Than how about this afternoon, we can go to town to get some remaining things and finish getting ready for the Gala. Which includes taking a bath. Does that sound fair?”

“I can work with that.” Junkrat said sighing, his face sank into a grimace.

“Thank you Jamison.” Satya wrapped her arms around him and pecked a soft kiss onto his cheek. “I know you probably hate this.”

“No _probably_ about it.” Junkrat grumbled.

“But I think there’s a few ways I can try and help.”

“Mind filling me in then?”

Symmetra smiled as she pulled out of the hug though she still held his hand. “Maybe it might work better as a surprise.”

“Fine, keep all your secrets then.” Jamsion’s frown began to falter as he rachted his mind trying to think of what Satya might be scheming about. And they both left the commune washrooms of the Overwatch base.

That afternoon while in the city for their last-minute items Satya took Junkrat into a soap store. As soon as Junkrat stepped in he felt like his nose was being assaulted with a thousand different smells at once. It felt like his sinuses were getting aggressively cleaned out by rosebud and irish spring and only god-know’s what else these city wankers like to soak themselves in.

“So what type of scents do you like?” Satya asked, he almost didn’t even here her because of all the smells.

“Uh, leather, gunpowder… bombs? But I doubt we’ll find anything like that in here.” Junkrat said. He doubted a fancy place like this would have anything for a guy like him.

“Well, let’s just see. Tracer said this store was known for its diverse scents.” Satya said trying to ease him further into the store and away from the giant display cases of open bottle right by the front doors. Honestly, while it looked aesthetically pleasing perhaps, Satya could see for the life of her why someone would set up so many diverse smalls in on area.

Further in the store they found shelves of soaps and perfumes categorized by essence. And amongst the thousand different florals, and scents dedicated to entire cities like “Paris” or “Rome”, as well as one shelf only labeled “astral” that baffled Satya, they found one shelf actually dedicated to smoke much to both of their surprise.

Each bottle and canister was made to imitate a specific wood burning, but none of them were scented like smoke from a bomb. So Junkrat settled for finding the scent that smelled the most metallic and ash-like. While he was going down the line of ‘smoke soaps’ he noticed out of the corner of his eyes Satya pick of some golden balls sitting in a basket. At first he thought she might try to be stealing them for how sneaky she was being but no, being the goody-two shoes she was she went towards the counter the buy them. Oh well, he could imagine.

When they both finally had everything they needed and left the cursed store they were both sporting brain-clawing migraines.

“Let’s never do that again.” Junkrat groaned, his nostrils felt like they were burning even after they left the store. “Just shop online or whatever.”

“Agreed.” Was all Satya could say as she tried to massage her temples and hold her bag and purse at the same time.

And before Junkrat knew it, they’d come full circle and were back in the washroom. Though this time they both had spent the entire afternoon walking and also had head-aches.

“Roight, so what’s the plan here ‘Metra?”

“Well first we should get the water running. Just turn the dial near the faucet.” Satya said, trying to remain calm.

“I know how to work a stupid tub, here.” Junkrat snapped as he twisted the water on. But he couldn’t stop himself from flinching when water suddenly came rushing out. He knew Satya had to of seen that. “What now?”

“Now, we should add in some of these.”

Junkrat could her smiling as she spoke and she excitedly took out those golden balls she’d been hiding in her purse. She really thought he hadn’t seen them. That was adorable. Even if he had no idea what on earth they were. “Uhhhh Satya? I may not be an expert on soap or whatever the hell, but ain’t the soap supposed to go on you, not the tub?”

“These are different. You add them to the water to make it colorful. They sort of… burst and break apart when submerged in the tub. They’re called… bath bombs.”

Satya was trying not to laugh and Junkrat looked over the golden balls carefully. They didn’t seem to be made of anything explosive, just compressed powder. “You ain’t pulling my leg?”

Satya shook her head but didn’t stop grinning. “I’m not. Come on try it! I use to love these as younger.”

On the count of three they dropped the balls into the giant tub. It didn’t explode, not that Jamison had expected them to, he had hoped though. But something… _interesting_ did happen. As they began to dissolve they began to bubble like some sort of chemical reaction. And he was surprised by how quickly the stuff moved too, within a few seconds it had completely dissipated throughout the tub. Waves of golden water would swirl around. And it was all twinkling too, when he looked closer he realized the stuff must have had golden glitter in it too.

“Back when I was still in school to be an architect they would sometimes use these as rewards.” Satya said, dipping her hand into the tub and swirling the water about. There was a wistful smile on her face. “At the end of each semester the girls with the highest percent average on their examinations would sometimes get these and extra tickets for snacks and sweets.”

“And I bet you were racking in all those prizes, huh?”

“You would assume right.” Satya said before standing back up.

Junkrat followed suit. “Ok now what? We got the water, soap?”

“Now you simply need to step in the tub.” She said. Stepping to the other side of the tub and beginning to undress.

“Wait! You wanna-“

That made Satya stop, turning around blushing. “Oh I’m sorry. I- Uh I shouldn’t of assumed. I-“

“Wait no worries. I’m good if you’re good.” They’d seen each other naked many times already, though this would probably be the first time in such a non-sexual way. He hope she didn’t think he was gross. He really, really hated how pruny his skin seemed to get. “ ‘Sides, you already put in all your precious bath bombs, hate to make those go to waste.” He said, forcing a bit of laughter to make the situation feel less awkward as they both undressed.

Junkrat was still sitting on the lip of the tub, working on getting off his arm when Symmetra lowered herself into the bath, sighing.

 “That’s nice. These bombs are scentless, I thought you’d like to know. Probably the only thing scentless in that entire store.” She had been relaxing in the water when she saw Junkrat struggling. “I’m sorry, do you need any sort of help with those?”

“No, no I got this, just give me a second to- there we go!” After his arm clicked a few times it finally twisted and snapped free from his stump. He placed it on the ground next to his leg and clothes. After that there was nothing else left to do…

He took a deep breath to steel himself as he edged closer towards the water. Wait no, don’t think of it as water. Water could be poisoned, water could have diseases in it, or worse it could be _rainwater._ Jamison tried to imagine that he was stepping into something else. Maybe liquid gold? Magical liquid gold that wasn’t casting his hand as he dipped his last flesh fingers into it. He waited a few moments to just feel it. It was really warm. And even though he could see a bunch of tiny sparkler there wasn’t any sandy/gritty feeling to the water. He inched his arm lower and lower into the tub.

He realized Symmetra must be waiting for him. He looked up to see if she was getting impatient with him but she wasn’t even looking his way. She was rubbing one of her soaps onto her arms when she looked back up at him. “The water has heaters maintaining its temperature so you don’t have to worry about it getting cold. Take as much time as you need.”

Cold water. If only that were what he was afraid of. The part he hated the most was that he knew it was normal water. He _knew_ it was some of the cleanest water on the fucking planet. But his brain just kept on blaring alarms in his head.

Trying to ignore those alarms he lifted his hand out of the water and slid off the lip down into the tub. The wa- golden liquid that definitely wasn’t water splashed around and some spilled off over the edge.

“See?” Junkrat said giving a toothy grin towards Symmetra. “That ain’t so hard now was it?”

But even has he started to rub soap onto his neck and arm stub, the alarms in his mind wouldn’t quit.


	7. Day 7: New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright people here it is! The final submission for Symmrat week! I really have to give my most sincere thanks to all of those who have been reading, liking, kudosing, commenting and so many other ways of showing appreciation on all my prompts for this week! You have no idea how much it means to me to get so many kind and supportive responses to my writing. It's really boosted my confidence in my own writing and kept me motivated. So from the sincerest bottom of my heart, thank you everyone see much for all your engagement and support!
> 
> Now to finish off this week this prompt is actually a continuation of yesterday's theme "Wash the rat"! So be sure to check that out and as always I hope you enjoy!
> 
> ((Also don't forget this weekend doesn't have to end here! Send me any and all your Symmrat requests until the 22nd and I'll be happy to write them!))

When the day of the Gala finally arrived Satya found herself both looking forwards to and dreading the event. On one hand, if the whole ordeal went smoothly the press would eat it up and they’d continue to be seen as heroes in the world’s eyes. On the other hand though despite tonight being for them they would have to do a lot of what Junkrat had eloquently put “kissing all them crazy-rich suites’ asses” for the evening, something Satya had plenty of experience with but many members of Overwatch didn’t. It’s what had to be done however if Overwatch wished to remain legal and adequately funded.

She still worried as she got dressed for the evening. She had decided to go with a lilac gown that was embellished with gold embroidered shapes and patterns. By a happy surprise it complemented the gold sparkles that were still stuck on her skin from the bath bombs yesterday. She also aligned her make-up with the dress and bombs with tiny accents of gold blended into her eyes and lips. And she pulled her back into a long sweeping braid that was simple yet elegant as it fell off her shoulder.

And while physically she was ready, emotionally she wasn’t quite sure. Regardless though the team would be preparing to leave in an hour. Outside her room she could her Hana, Lena and Mei shouting down the hall as they complimented one another so she could assume they were ready early as well. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, making sure every aspect of her appearance was perfect and stepped out of her room to join them.

“Oh my Symmetra!” Tracer called out as soon as she stepped out of her room. “Just look at you! You look lovely!”

“Thank you, and I the same goes for you two as well.” She said smiling. They both looked stunning, especially Satya had never seen either wearing anything besides their normal suites before.

“So are you all ready for tonight?” Hana asked grinning ear to ear.

“I’d certainly hope so. It’s in an hour.” Mei said managing to be chastising in such a friendly tone. She turned to Satya as Hana started listing off everything she wished to do at the Gala. “And your Junkrat will be ready by then, Yes?”

“I’d certainly hope so.” Satya mimicked teasingly.

She tried to keep a light, happy attitude while her stomach churned. Usually when someone was excited they were said to have butterflies in their stomach but Satya only felt like there was a heavy stone weighing down on her insides. Everything had to be perfect, to ensure Overwatch’s safety. But if her experience on the team had shown her anything it was that Overwatch and the people in it were anything but…

~~~

Satya felt like she was slowly having a nervous breakdown. The team had all come here separately and Satya had been one of the last to arrive. As soon as she stepped out of her ride several reporters were in her face and an assistance was ushering her to go talk to the mayor of the city. It was chaotic ad she could already feel pressure begin settling on her shoulders. But she still had to keep a level head and hold a legible conversation with three different reporters at the same time. And that was just entering the Gala!

It got a bit easier once the reporters were satisfied with her quotes and let her be. And all the cameras were left outside the entrance so once inside the ballroom she began to feel much better without so many cameras and eyes focused on her like she was a bug. The Mayor even turned out to be an amiable fellow who had been fascinated with the science and art of hard-light.

But once she was finally left to her own devices that pressure fell back onto her. In one corner by a bar Lena sat with her girlfriend and a whole troop of piolets surrounding them. They were all laughing loudly, loud enough to draw attention and scowls from some of the ball-attendees and Satya feared what might happen if they actually all got drunk. Hana had her own army of fans following her around as well. She could see a few boys actually threaten to fight each other to get a dance with her. Many members of Overwatch had people following them about Satya realized, like baby ducks imprinting on a leader. And each group looked like they were just on the cusp of becoming unruly. To make matters worse it seemed like more and more people were streaming into the party byt the minute. Now even being near the center of the room there were people brushing elbows with her. Honestly, they really should have held this Gala at a larger venue, this was ridiculous!

And to make matters worse she couldn’t seem to find Junkrat anywhere. Unlike everyone else she couldn’t find any sort of group following her boyfriend nor any other trace of him. She tried straining her ears over the obnoxiously loud smooth jazz but she still couldn’t hear his familiar crow nor his cackle.

She really hoped he was here, but what if he wasn’t? The thought disappointed her but she could still understand it. All while practicing throughout this week Junkrat kept saying things like he wasn’t “cut-out for this sorta shit”. But he had been putting forth so much effort to learn everything, he’d even taken a bath for goodness sake. Never in their entire time of knowing have one another had he ever taken a complete, submerging himself in actual water, bath! Junkrat had really done a lot to prepare for tonight. She’d really hoped to see him put his practice into action.

She was about to go back near the entrance and ask if her boyfriend had come in when someone suddenly stepped into her pathway and almost ran into them. They were too tall to see their face in such a dense crowd.

“My apologies.” Satya said, horrified of what might of happened if she had actually run into the man.

“No apologies necessary darl!”

Satya stopped dead in her tracks and looked closer at the tux, she immediately recognized the size and cut and those blue and purple accents. And she looked up she saw none other than Jamison “Junkrat” Fawkes. He had been standing so tall she somehow hadn’t even recognized him!

“ ‘Bout time you saw me! Passed by two times already!” He said giggle a little.

A man violently cleared his throat and glared at both of them. “I can see when I’m unneeded. You two have a nice night.” He said with an acidic tone before snapping around and walking away with a huff.

“Fucking cunt.” Junkrat muttered watching the man leave. “Didn’t even know who I was but as soon as I mentioned the big O.W. then suddenly the guy wouldn’t leave me alone! I had no idea what the hell he was talking about most the time. I just kept fake laughing and prayed he’d leave me alone.”

“Hopefully he didn’t say anything important.”

“Eh I doubt it, all these suits say the same things over’n’over.” Jamison said brushing off Satya’s concern.

Satya couldn’t help but smile and elbow his side. “I’d watch what I say if I were you, Junkrat. Look who else here is wearing a suit?”

“Hey hey hey! This ain’t a suit, it’s a tux! And it’s just for tonight so I’m good!”

Satya was about to comment back when several people shoved into her from behind, almost making her loose her footing and crash into Jamison. They didn’t even apologize as they forced their way through the crowd. Suddenly the small space that had been doable while talking to Jamison felt too chaotic, too claustrophobic to Satya. There were too many people. Everywhere. She felt overwhelmed. She could barely think.

“Hey darl! How’bout we take this outside? I cans see a door way over there.” Satya couldn’t see where he pointed too but she took his hand as he lead them out of the terrible, overheated crowed and over toward a set of cool glass doors.

Outside there was a small balcony overlooking the cityscape. Trails of lights lit up the area and a bar table covered in drinks stood by the entrance. A few couples and groups milled about the space but compared to inside the ballroom this balcony was a beautiful ghost town. Satya felt like she could breathe again out here.

Junkrat looked down at her and she could she how worry pinched his face. “You feeling better ‘Metra?”

“Yes actually.” Satya answered still focusing on breathing steadily.

Junkrat gave a low whistle as they stepped towards the edge. “Hooly-dooly ain’t that a pretty view!”

He seemed entranced by the sight and leaned further over the ledge to take everything in. Satya noticed how his face glimmered as lights reflected off of him.

“The glitter, you’re still wearing it?” Satya asked.

Junkrat laughed before scratching at his neck. “Oh believe me, you ain’t the first to notice. Tried scrubbing the stuff off but I could never get it all. So decided screw it, looked good on me anyways. When I got here all those blokes with cameras went completely bonkers! They wouldn’t get outta me face. Hog actually had to shove some of the away from me! They kept asking if I was making a ‘statement’. Like the fuck does that means?”

“I believe that would be referring to a fashion statement.” Satya explained. When Junkrat gave her a questioning look she decided to elaborate. “Celebrities will often wear outlandish things as a way of promoting idea or being rebellious. But most often it’s simply an attempt at gaining quick attention.”

Junkrat looked confused at first but then suddenly went into a giggling fit. “Oh well that certainly does the trick! Can’t imagine what sorta ‘statement’ all them blokes thought I was making! They act like that toward ya too?”

“Huh?”

“Cause you’re still coated in this shit too!”

Satya looked down at her arm and sure enough there were still an array of sparkles sitting on her skin like freckles. From all the stress of tonight she had completely forgotten about them. “No I don’t believe so.”

“So it was just me then? Making such rebellious fashion statements?

“Perhaps since you are a male they considered it so, as such styles would be considered unusual by some.”

“Oh really? Ugh, city wankers sure are wild! Sparkles is what makes the front page for’em!” He shook his head and peals of laughter started spilling out of him.

“I believe so.” Satya said, unable to stop the smile on her face. Junkrat could be downright infectious sometimes. And with the subject at hand she couldn’t agree more.

“Oh-ho I see how it is!” Junkrat giggled as he gestured to himself “Show up at a party all sooty and people call you a miscreant but show up coated in glitter and everyone says you’re making a fucking fashion statement? That’s how it works? Ain’t that calling the kettle black!”

“Or gold in this case, I believe.” Satya couldn’t help but grin when that made Junkrat cackle harder.

When he calmed back down he sighed and leaned up against the balcony. “Ugh, city wankers always got all these contradictions. Don’t think I’ll ever figure it all out!”

“I won’t even try to defend that.” Satya said regaining her composer. “I remember when Vishkar first began training me there were so many unsaid social rules that everyone just expected you to know. Like maintaining eye contact and not saying what immediately came to mind. It’s a wonder sometimes that I made it through school at all! … But I guess I was alright in the end.”

“Well if you ask me, you turned at much better than just alright.” Junkrat said, pushing off the balcony and stepping closer towards Satya. He lifted a hand and held it open palmed towards her. And she took the hand gently.

“If you ask me you turned out utterly brilliant…” He said slowly pulling her closer.

“As are you.”

“Aw sure.” Junkrat snorted and looked away as she said that.

“No. I mean it.”

Satya gently lifted a hand to pull his gaze back towards her’s. And for a moment their eyes locked, one fire enchanted to another. Then moving slowly she lifted up her head and tried to capture his lips with her own. It was a soft kiss, only pressing their lips together. The sort of kisses that had occurred at the beginning of their relationship. But every tender thought and feeling going through Symmetra’s head she was transmitting out into that kiss. As Jamison leant in closer and reciprocated the kiss and deepened it she hoped that her message was being received.

Satya didn’t know how much time had passed but eventually they both separated and breathed on their own.

Junkrat seemed dazed, just looking at Satya. It was the stillest she had ever seen the man, standing so stock-still and wide eyes focused solely on her. But suddenly a loud cheer from the crowd inside snapped Junkrat out of whatever thoughts were going through his head. And like that he burst back to life as the sparatic man she recognized.

“Shit! Forgot about the drinks! You want a drink? Cause I could use one about now.”

“I would enjoy a drink, yes.” Satya said trying not to laugh too loudly and watched Jamison hurry towards the bar. He scanned over the rows of bottles before shrugging and just grabbing a bottle and two glasses and bringing it back over.

“Alright, this looks legit. Nothing too heavy.” Satya looked over the label but she didn’t recognize the name. But it seemed fancy enough to appear at a high-end party such as this.

He poured out the drink into the glasses and handed one to her. It was a reddish-pink liquid. Probably a wine of some sort. She was about to take a drink when he stopped her.

“Wait! This being such a fancy, formal event we ought to make a toast?” He said smirking.

Satya smiled back. “Yes, I believe that would be proper.”

“Roight! Then let’s see what the hell should we toast too? Overwatch? ...Not being in prison?”

Satya thought for a moment till an idea came to her. “How about… Why don’t we cheer to new beginnings?”

“I like that! Here’s to new beginnings!” Junkrat said beaming.

The glasses clinked together with a happy chime.

“Cheers!” Satya said before bringing the glass up to her lips. The drink stung her tongue lightly as she took a sip.

They spent the rest of their night away from the party and out on that balcony in peace, watching the city below them glow with electric lights and the night sky above them drew on in a vast, deep darkness.


	8. Request 1: Continuation of Day 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request by a guest named Oleaginosa 
> 
> “Now that the week is over, do you plan on write a continuation for this?? Cuz I'M ALWAYS A SLUT FOR HURT/COMFORT”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness gracious! It's been so long even boombox week has come and gone! I'm so sorry it's been a while I thought I would have more time to have these finished. But I made I promise to write out the two requests I received way back in Symmrat week in January. So finally here's the first! 
> 
> To the person who requested this, I'm sorry it took so long. I didn't forget your story! And to you as well as everyone else I hope you enjoy!

Hana and Lucio were besides him and that all of them were trapped. Screwed. The only source of light to their cell came from a few cracks in the door, letting harsh fluorescent light leak into the room, but only a few slivers. And the lights shined constantly so there was no way to use them to judge how much time had passed. His stumps were starting to ache from this coldness constantly seeping into them. Those Talon cunts took both his and Lucio's prosthetics leaving them trapped on the ground. Only Hana could walk around. Not that there was much space to move even if they had their legs. The cell they'd been piled into could barely be considered a walk-in closet. If Junkrat stretched out he could have a hand and foot touch opposite walls. They were royally fucked.

The first hours? Days? He would just say moments, had probably been the worst. All they could recall was being overthrown by a sudden army of talon forces in Oasis. Junkrat had been certain that was the end of the line for them all. But then when they woke up, they found themselves in here. Weaponless, proethiticless, no contact, left alone on the dark. Lucio and Hanna had been in utter panic, making Junkrat even more hysterical then he already felt. And once they'd calmed down enough to think straight, together the three of them had felt and clawed the entire surface of this room, possibly hundreds of times, but they found no weak-spots. Nor any sort of clues to the space they were being held in.

What did Talon want from them? What could they possibly get from the three of them? Fresh new faces to Overwatch that knew little to none of their history and secrets.

It dawned on Junkrat that of course Talon would nab Lucio or Hana, they were national treasures. International icons. People loved them. In simple words they were easy to use. They could rack in a colossal amount of ransom money. Or worse yet, what if they tried brainwashing them? Since they both had such large followings they could force them to say and do terrible things and their fans might blindly follow along. It would be an instant cult-following unknowingly serving one of the most powerful terrorist groups in the world.

But then why keep Junkrat too? He didn't have fans across the globe. And while he did have a huge bounty on his head it wasn't like a terrorist organization like Talon could just waltz into the UK and collect that money. He felt like he was going mad, well madder, racking his brain over what they would want from them all.

On day they heard boot stomps echo down the hall outside. And Junkrat knew in his guts they were coming for them.

"You two, get behind me. Now." Junkrat said quietly, not wanting to give the guards outside the satisfaction of hearing them panic.

"What?" Hana asked she seemed frozen where she was kneeling, unable to look away from the door or the thundering boots outside drawing closer and closer.

"Get behind me now. No way in hell I'm gonna let them take you guys." He growled, shoving Lucio and Hana into the corner of the cell farthest from the door.

He planted a hand and foot along the wall in an attempt to barricade them from the forces outside. He wouldn't let these Talon cunts take his friends. There was no way he'd let them hurt Hana or Lucio. They'd have to rip his dead corpse out of the way first.

When it seemed like the boots couldn't get any louder, they all suddenly came to a halt right in from of their door. They blocked out the light from the crack and for a brief moment their cell truly was too dark to even see. But just as quickly the door was unlocked and swung open, blinding the three of them with harsh fluorescent light. The guards used their disorientation to their advantage and poured into their cell. Junkrat felt a guard grip painfully hard at his arm try to yank him out of the corner.

"No!" He shouted, his voice was so painfully hoarse. "'Lemmie go you fuckin' cowards!"

The guard holding him snarled as he hoisted him off the ground and dragged him away from the others. "Filthy little Junker!"

Oh if his blood wasn't already boiling that would have set him off for sure. Grunting he kicked his leg up over his head, and from the meaty smack and grunt from the guard he assumed he got the bastard right in the fucking face with his good foot. The guard dropped him on the floor but before he could move two more guards were on top of him, holding back his arm and leg. He tried to wriggle out of their grasp but they weren't budging.

He started gnashing his teeth at the guards when he heard a voice from the cell door. "Behave yourself, Jamison."

He snapped his head around to see who was talking. It was an older guy, probably a Talon Captain or something. But he just looked like a douche-bag. Especially when he was just standing there watching them struggle while his underlings rounded them up like caged animals.

"Go fuck yourself, cunt!" He spat in the man’s direction, it didn't even reach his boots but at least the guy look disgusted.

The man lifted a hand and all at once all the Talon guards stopped trying to pull Junkrat out of the room and pin the others to the wall. It was painfully quiet. Then he in a calm voice he gave an order.

"Jules? Punch the support in the face."

The guards yanked him by his hair and forced him to watch Jules apparently, pulled back and punched Lucio. And they didn't hold back. Lucio’s head actually swung to the side from the force and he could hold back a cry and groan as the whole right side of his face stung.

"Ugh! You sons of-" He heard Hana shout before she was suddenly cut off. Junkrat was seething, screaming out a litany of swears while the guard holding him by his hair now shoved his face into the floor. He was gonna kill him. He was gonna kill every fucking one of these shit-piles. How dare they.

The Captain nodded at the guard and continued. "Stop that, Jamison. You'll only make things worse for everyone."

"Like hell I am!" Junkrat seethed. "No way I'm gonna just sit here on my ass and let you take away my friends!"

"Ah, there it is." The Captain said, lightly. Like he was about to chuckle at some city-wanker's tea party about gouda. "I think I finally see what Overwatch saw in you. They've always been very particular about the characters they allow in their little club. But once you know the archetypes they all fall into they're child's play to figure out and properly utilize.”

Junkrat hated the way the Captain's words made him feel. It was like he was under a magnifying glass, or being pinned to a cork board. "So? What's the point? If you know us so well, why do you want us? What do you cunts need Lucio and Hana for?"

"You're loyalty is admirable Jamison, but you're over-done energy is unnecessary." 

"And why's that?" Junkrat snapped. He wanted to set everyone in this room on fire but he didn't want this Captain prick giving out another order to hurt Hanna or Lucio.

"You see, at the moment we aren't here to collect the musical sensation Lucio or the awe-inspiring D.Va." The Captain continued, stepping down into the cell and looking down at Junkrat. Like he was some sort of child having a temper tantrum. "No.... We're here for you."

That made Junkrat go quiet. It became so obvious. He looked over and realized that he was the only one being moved towards the door. Lucio and Hanna were just being restrained against the walls. But it made no sense! None of this whole fucking plot made no sense!

"Oh don't think so poorly of yourself Jamison. You could be of great use to us."

Junkrat snarled at the Captain, was his face really that easy to read? But he couldn't get a word in before the Captain continued.

"You're chemical engineering skills are unprecedented. Not to mention you may have some invaluable information on Vishkar's precious little architect..."

Junkrat's blood went cold at that. Just the way he talked about Satya sounded so creepy and slimy. And they knew. How the fuck did they know? Either someone or something was compromising the team. And if they knew about something as tight-lipped as their relationship who knew what else they had collected on the Overwatch?

"You like to make deals, right Jamison. It's how you rationalize your ridiculous Junker code of honor? Well I have a deal to make with you. You keep acting like an uncivilized ruffian, hurting my men, fighting and run away and I promise you you're little superstars here will pay-"

"Don't you dare say that about him, you piece of shit!" Lucio shouted, suddenly bursting to life and struggling against his captors. "Rat listen to me! Don't trust a word this guy says! They may try and hurt us, but they wouldn't kill us. They're just-"

He was brutally cut off when a guard lifted him off the ground, slammed him against the wall and started choking him.

"I would have expected you to realize you’re in no position to say what I can and can’t do." The Captain said calmly, like it was his billionth time saying this. "The girl too."

Junkrat could only watch in horror as they pulled Hana up off the ground and began choking her too. "No! Stop! Stop it!"

"You want them to stop, Jamison?" The Captain asked. "Then make our deal. As long as you stay in line your friends will be safe. I'm not even asking you for information, I simply ask you to behave... Doesn't that sound like a fair deal, Jamison?"

Lucio and Hana was getting purple in the face, and their thrashes were starting to get slower and weaker.

"Deal! Deal! Just please put them down!" He hated how desperate he sounded.

After a few more moments that felt like forever, the Captain finally lifted his hand and the two were dropped back onto the floor like potato sacks. Gasping for air as they hit the ground with a painful smack.

"You made the right choice, Jamison. Now come along, you have a big day ahead of you."

He could hear Lucio and Hana crying out for him to come back and it took every fiber of his being not to fight back against his captors. He felt lower than dirt. Offering no fight they lifted him out of the cell and placed him onto a cot on wheels. Like the ones in the old-time doctor tv shows. He felt something tiny stab his arm. And when he looked down he saw it was a gigantic looking needle filled with a bluish liquid. The guards were all around him fastening his hand, foot and his stumps with tight leather straps.

The straps on this bench had no give, either that or the needle in his arm was fast acting. When the guards finally deemed he ready to move they pushed him away. The wheels on the cart squeaked painfully as they carted him down the hall. Louder even then Hana and Lucio's cries back in their cell. He heard their cell door slam shut with an unnerving finality.

Now the rows upon rows of fluorescent lights kept shining into Junkrat's eyes. Making him even more disoriented then he already felt. Or maybe this is what the drugs were supposed to do? What the hell had they put in his arm? Everything was beginning to seem foggy, and sounds echoed from far away. Somewhere above him he thought he saw the Captain guy lean over his face. From this angle and Junkrat's worsening state of mind he almost looked like some sort of floating head monster coming to eat his brains. He heard him talking but his voice didn't seem to line up with the words he was saying.

"And remember Jamison, your actions will directly affect your friend's safety, health. Their lives. So be on your best behavior when you meet your doctors..."

~~~

His eyes snapped open and he had to force himself not to shoot up out of the bed. He’d done that earlier and it hurt like a bitch. His heart was beating so fast it was more of a hum than individual beats. Each breath felt like a labor, burning in his throat and chest. And his whole body felt like it was trembling.

He was really getting sick of these dreams. Every time he tried to rest up like Mercy and Hog kept saying, he would only get few hours before his mind betrayed him and his dreams would just replay his time captured by Talon. Or at least the few parts he could clearly recall. And his mind kept playing them over and over and just wouldn’t quit. If he wasn’t already he was definitely looney now he thought with a groan.

Slowly, he brought his hand up and rubbed some of the sand out of his eyes. As he did a soft, warm hand settled in his hair, their thumb gently running over his forehead.

“Jamie?”

Junkrat looked up to find Satya there at his side. She looked exhausted. But always beautiful to Jamie, even with giant purple bags developing under her eyes.

“Satya, when did you come back? Though 76 banned you from coming in’ere.”

“He did but he calmed down eventually.” Satya said looking towards the infirmary entrance and frowning, “Granted he insists he must be in here at all times.”

Junkrat looked across the room and sure enough Soldier 76 sat like a sentry near the door. But Mercy was gone now and Roadhog was nowhere in sight. “Where’s Hoggy?”

“Roadhog and I decided to switch places for a while. He’s keeping an eye on Lucio and Hana.”

Just hear their names made something heavy sit in his chest. “How… how are they?”

Satya sighed thinking over what to say. “They were very distressed when you all first came back here, but they’re doing better, at least slightly. When I left them they were in the commons.”

“Huh, anyone ever hear of sleep?” Junkrat said huffing a breathy laugh. That was the thing with Overwatch, it was all work, work, work. Each mission came one right after the other and when there weren’t missions there was still work to do here.

“It’s been a rather… intense few days. I don’t think anyone besides yourself has been able to fall asleep.”

The only way he’d been able to sleep was half painkillers and half the fact that his body still needed to recover from all its trauma. And even then his rest had felt like anything but, as his body ached terribly whenever the painkillers started fading out and his dreams were full of nightmares.

As Satya continued to speak she moved her hand off Junkrat’s hair.

“And of course all that’s happened with Talon has put everyone on high alert.”

“Yeah I’d imagine.” Junkrat muttered. He already missed the repetitive weight of Satya’s hand, it had been grounding. “Do we know how much they know yet?”

“Nothing is certain yet. However it is obvious both our identities and involvement with Overwatch have been compromised.” He could hear her swallow nervously.

“And what’s Vishkar got to say about all this?” Junkrat asked, reaching out with his mechanical hand and gently taking hold of hers. He felt like he already knew the answer. If he were a greedy, two-faced suit he’d certainly hide his star architect under lock and key if he ever got the word groups like Talon were trying to get information out of them and his corporation.

“They have been understanding. Their expectations of this organization have plummeted, but they are still understanding and have not penalized myself nor taken any action against Overwatch yet.”

That surprised Junkrat. Usually cunts like Vishkar were these biased, our-word-is-final types who would back out of a deal as soon one thing even smelled like it was going south. He’d never once heard of a suit being forgiving, especially not at the all-powerful, snooty Vishkar suits. But apparently they had a teeny-itty-bit of leeway. But he still wasn’t about to go thanking the blokes just yet.

“That’s great then! So you’ll be staying’ere?” He said swinging Satya’s hand and smiling.

Satya didn’t return his smile, instead she grimaced. She turned back to look directly at him and held his hand in both of hers. Fuck. “Junkrat? We really need to talk…” Fuck fuck fuck!

“Yeah?” Junkrat willed his voice to keep steady and not betray the wave of panicked swears going through his head.

Satya breathed deeply through her nose and sighed heavily. And while her hands tightened around Junkrat’s she wasn’t making eye contact with him. Instead looking down at her feet or at his bed. “In the end, I decided to take Vishkar’s offer…”

There was a jab of pain in his guts and Junkrat wasn’t sure if it was from his pain meds wearing off. But he forced himself to keep listening to what Satya was saying and not get swept up in his own mess of thoughts quite yet.

“I’m sorry. After you, Hana, and Lucio were taken the whole team went temporarily into hiding to ensure the security of everyone else. And they made it their primary objective to find and rescue you three. However I couldn’t. I accepted Vishkar’s offer and have been working on the additions to Utopaea. When I heard news that they had tracked you down, they allowed me a time of leave. But-“

“But you still gotta go back?” Junkrat said trying to stay numb.

Satya nodded. “Yes… Junkrat I’m sorry.” There was more words going through Satya’s mind. That she didn’t have a choice, she was responsible for her obligations to Vishkar. But it seemed like nothing left in her head was willing to make it to her voice. And Junkrat looked so broken.

“You’re allowed to do what you want. We all got our own lives outside of this gig with Overwatch afterall.” Junkrat said quietly.

Satya was shocked, Junkrat had been so livid, ready to fight months ago when she told him for the first time she might be leaving Overwatch for her project. Now he sounded like he’d given up, ready to just let her go. And it was possibly the most quiet and smallest she’d ever heard Junkrat be. “Jamie-“

“And believe me, what you do with light, it’s fucking amazing. One of a kind. You’re amazing.” While his words were kind, Satya hated that sadness that clung to them as Jamison tried to stay neutral. “But I hope you realize that them Vishkar cunts don’t deserve you or your work.”

“I don’t act under Vishkar unwillingly, Junkrat, I wanted to do this.” She said not letting herself get cut off this time. Sometimes Junkrat made her out to be this poor pawn in her work with Vishkar when it was always the opposite. She fought and dedicated herself to being an Architect. And all the sacrifices she made along the way had never been unknown or forced on her part.

“I know, darl.”

Junkrat’s hand loosed and Satya relinquished her hold on him. His hand fell back to his side and the only sound in the room was Soldier 76’s boots clicking on the infirmary floor as he stepped from one side of the hall to the other. As he passed the two of them he stared directly at Junkrat and frowned right back at him. And once he sat down again at the other end of the infirmary that stifling miserable silence continued on.

“So-o, when do you gotta go back?” Junkrat asked finally. His voice had grown raspier as well as drowsier while the two had sat in silence.

“Well,” Satya began readjusting in her chair dropping her hands into her lap. “They gave me two weeks originally. And since your rescue mission moved to quickly I now have a little over a week until I’m scheduled to return to Utopaea.”

“And nothing can change that?” Junkrat tried.

“I’m afraid not Junkrat.” Satya said, the decision was already final.

“Roight then…” That sounded more like the Vishkar he was used to dealing with. Unyielding, all-powerful suits who would never budge an inch. He really hated them and their dumb world.

Especially when they were the only thing that would be keeping them apart. If it weren’t for them he could just take a break from Overwatch too and go with her to India, he gladly do it in a heartbeat. But if Vishkar ever caught word that they top Architect was holding hands with a wanted criminal both of them would be trapped in hot water. Honestly if those Vishkar cunts had it their way they probably would have killed Junkrat as soon as they heard he and Roadhog were also recruited to Overwatch’s ranks, let alone even interacted with her. It was all so dumb and dull and he dreamed of the day Satya found her way out of Vishkar where she could build whatever she pleased without an army of suits breathing down her back.

Until that day though it looked like Junkrat would have to make the best of this free week they were given. And after that he’d just be stuck waiting.

Satya jumped slightly when Junkrat suddenly reached again for her hand and once again she let him take hers. And after he cleared his throat he asked her with a toothy smile. “So what’s this new neighborhood you’re cooking up for Utopaea like?”

While surprised Satya still couldn’t help but begin going over the details of her new buildings. And Junkrat listened the whole time, nodding and smiling and imagining what it must all look like in real life. Shakily, Junkrat lifted their hands up to his face and softly kissed her hand as she spoke.

“Sounds lovely, Satya. You’re a fucking genius.”

Someday, when they didn’t have Vishkar and Talon and armies of suites and terrorists trying to rip them to pieces, he’d have to go to Utopaea and see it for himself, Junkrat thought with a sad smile. But until that day it looked like he’d be have to wait and see.


	9. Request 2: Continuation of Day 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request by Maiyosoyomi 
> 
> “I would love a dance with them as they are, all glittery and fancy. Dim lights that make they glow like gods and slow music to enchant all who see them. Hog tearing up next to lena and hanna at the buffet table.  
> :D please?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again! I am so, so sorry this took so long to finish up, but I hope you still enjoy this! (even when Symmrat has been over for months now gosh darn!)

Inside the ballroom, the loud chaotic noise had finally died down and in its place a quiet song began to play. It felt soft and calm yet had this chiming pulse that would drive in and out like wave. And despite being some genre of electronic it almost had an organic, breathing in its sound.

Satya noticed how Junkrat perked at the song, looking back towards the ballroom with quirked eyebrows and drumming his fingers along with the beat of the song. He stood like that for a moment, seemingly deep in thought until a realization hit him and he jumped up.

"Satya! It's one of em' songs! The dancing ones, the-" He scrunched up his face in concentration and started snapping his fingers, willing the idea to come back to him. "It's... Shoot! I swear I just had it! Its right on the tip of me tongue."

"What?"

Junkrat looked like he was about to burst from how hard he was trying to recall this one word. "You know! Said earlier you could tell if it has three counts or something."

"Oh, a Waltz?"

"Yeah! That's the one!"

Satya listened and sure enough she recognized the rhythmic _1,2,3, 1,2,3_ beats hidden in the slower electronic pulses. Usually waltzes were performed with western classical orchestra instruments. A rather unique choice for a unique song, Satya thought. It didn’t sound like anything she’d ever heard before.

Satya began to ponder the inspiration behind such a strange song when Junkrat offered her his hand. “So darl, ya wanna dance?”

“That depends,” Satya said, taking his hands “Do you remember our lessons earlier?”

“More’or’less.” Junkrat said giggling nervously. “Hey if I remember anything from those lessons it was the dancing bits! What’s the worst that could happen?”

He did have a fair point, he’d actually enjoyed their dance lessons and excelled quickly, though his posture was sometimes lacking. And while Satya had simply been teasing originally she’d already made her decision. “Very well then!” She said as she wrapped her arm over Junkrat’s shoulders and pulled him closer. “Let’s dance.”

Her only warning was Junkrat’s back straightening to his full height and then they were off. They moved quickly across the balcony, their steps in time with the thrum of the music. For the umpteenth time this night Satya was grateful they were outside on this balcony. They both danced with broad, wide steps and dancing like this would have been utterly impossible inside that crowded hall. The glowing lights hanging above them rocked with a passing breeze, making the ground glow with a wavering gold light. And when she rested her head closer to Junkrat’s, she could hear him humming along with the song.

She looked down at their feet and it almost held an out-of-body feeling. She didn’t realize how fast they had been moving, and so easily too. Junkrat’s peg leg moved so fluidly alongside Satya’s foot. They were moving effortlessly. And when she looked up she saw Junkrat proudly grinning at her.

“Not so bad for me first official gig, huh?”

“Not bad at all.” Satya agreed. “You dance wonderfully.”

“You too darl! Hey can I try that one fancy bit with the turns and the arms?”

Despite him not using any of the correct terminology Satya still somehow knew exactly what he was talking about. “Of course.”

“Roight! Then let’s see, uh-“

All at once Junkrat let go of one of her hands and Satya turned spinning away from him until their arms pulled like a taunt string. And then Satya was gently pulled through and spun around until she faced Jamison again and their waltzing steps continued.

“Like that right?” Junkrat asked slightly unsure.

They both had a bit more fumbling footwork but Satya still found herself impressed by Junkrat, they had only tried that step a few times near the end of their lesson and yet he was still able to replicate it. “Yes, that was correct.”

“You wanna try again? I think I got it now.” Junkrat sounded determined to get that step as good as it had been in their lesson.

They tried again, Satya pausing and turning away and then following Junkrat’s hand back around into their original position with a twirl. This time had much less missteps. Both of them certainly were quick to learn after all.

“How about we try that swoopy, inside-out thing next?”

Satya smiled and agreed, she made a mental note to go over all the proper terminology again after this.

“K’ Here we go!” Junkrat said, he might not have realized it but he was growing louder the longer they were out here. But Satya couldn’t find it in herself to bring it up. They were both genuinely happy and it wasn’t like there were that many party-goers out here to complain or be inconvenienced by them just enjoying themselves.

She followed Junkrat’s lead into the step and not missing a beat she turned away from him as they danced and then Junkrat raised their hands and Satya spun back into his arms with a chasse without falling out of step.

“Excellent!” Satya said grinning, “I must say Junkrat you’re impressively light on your feet.”

“Thanks! I really gotta be, ya’know since one of me legs is already aluminum alloy!” He said with a cackle.

Satya found herself laughing along with him as they danced circles across the balcony. Junkrat’s joking aside, she realized she shouldn’t have been so surprised at his seemingly new talent for dancing. During missions she’d seen the man leap from one concussion mine to the next like it was nothing, a feat she’d seen few non-overwatch members able to do with a full pair of organic legs. And he’d always loved to do this tiny jig he called his “vaudeville” whenever he wanted to antagonize their enemies and teammates alike.

Eventually though, their song began to soften and move towards its ending and their quick steps became slower and slower. Almost like a wind-up toy loosing its energy until it was gone. And when their song was finally over they still stood there in their dancing position, swaying closer and further apart. Satya knew they should probably let go now but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. They were so close she could feel the heat radiating off him, and unlike inside the overcrowded gala this warmth and closeness weren’t unwelcomed. So they continued standing there, practically hugging now and unable to break eye contact.

Junkrat’s eyes were a lovely color that almost seemed golden under the soft glow of the lanterns hanging above them. And slowly, like he wasn’t sure what exactly he was doing, he inched down lower and lower until they were kissing.

And when they pulled apart Junkrat sighed happily. “Satya Vaswani? I think I really love you.”

“I think I love you too, Jamison Fawkes.” Satya said teasingly.

“Well that’s good to hear! Would have been a bit awkward if ya didn’t really!” Junkrat said laughing, but Satya could see the way he started blushing on his cheeks and the tips of his ears when she’d called him by his real name.

She didn’t have an encompassing knowledge of Junker culture but she realized giving her his real name had taken a large amount of trust. It was something important to him. Much like the way she had entrusted him with the secretive mechanics of her gauntlet arm. The more she thought on it, in their time together they had shared many stories and secrets few other souls would ever know. And it began to dawn on her just how close they had become.

“Hey darl, you alright?” Jamison asked suddenly looking worried. They were already outside, where else could they go if Satya was feeling overwhelmed?  

“No, I’m fine. I’m better than fine actually.” Satya said with a reassuring smile. She was pretty sure she was alright at least, the more she thought on it though the more she realized that Junkrat was probably the closest she’d ever become with another person. A harrowing thought of course, but also one that left with a strange feeling she couldn’t quite identify.

Thoughts still sifting through her head she took his hand they walked back towards the balcony’s edge to look out at the city, hoping another dancing song might play soon.

~~~

Completely unknown to Satya and Junkrat, three figures were secretly watching them by the buffet table.

"D'awwww! Don't they just look the sweetest?" Lena said wistfully. "Reminds me of the first time I tried to take Emily to a ball... We had more squished toes though."

Hana smirked as she filmed the happy couple dancing in circles. "I never pinned Junkrat to be the dancing type! Did you?"

Lena replied, trying to keep her voice down despite her excitement. "I had no clue! He cleans up nice too for someone who hates to be clean. Looks like our Rat's full of surprises, ain't he Roadhog!"

Lena was shocked when she nudged her elbow into Roaghog's arm and he moved. Roadhog had always been like a steel mountain, usually if any of them tried attacking him they would bounce right off his gut. But he moved, slightly jostled by her jab. She began to notice how still he had been. But this was different from his normal stoic stance. Even though his face was blocked and his posture seemingly its normal stiffness something seemed off to Lena.

"Roadhog, love. You alright?"

"Shit..." His voice was warbly, even more rough then normal. And his shoulders trembled ever so slightly. It was like he was...

"Oh my god, Hog! Are you crying?" Lena hadn't meant to say that out loud. But she couldn't help it. The Roadhog, the One-Man Apocalypse was crying. She and Hana hurried to pass some napkins over to the poor man.

He took the gingerly, only moving his mask an inch or two away from his face hurriedly rubbed the papers under his mask.

"I'm so sorry Roadhog! Are you alright?" Lena placed a hand on his shoulder, ready to retract it if he flinched.

"Should we leave?" Hana asked uneasily, emotions were never her strong suit, especially from a man so normally emotionless.

"No, you're good. Would you believe that was the first time I've cried in about twenty years?" He said trying to sound joking. His voice already began returning to its normal gravelly sound.

"Oh! I knew you had a heart in there!" Lena teased elbowing him in the arm again. This time he didn't move a millimeter and she felt her arm twinge like she'd tried jabbing a brick wall.

"Yeah it's in there... somewhere." Roadhog rumbled.

The three of them hid out there for a bit longer till Hana perked up. "I think the song ends soon. I'm gonna go in and tell Lucio to keep all this slow-dance music coming!" And she snuck back inside and ducked into the crowds of people.

Then it was just Lena and Roadhog together. For a long while neither of them said anything. When the song was finally over they watched silently as Junkrat and Satya slowed down to a stop. Neither of them seemed willing to pull apart from the other so they just stood there staring deeply into each other's eyes. And the two stepped closer until they were completely hugging. And then completely kissing.

"I'm real proud of him." Roadhog said. Watching them pull away from their embrace and walk back towards the edge of the balcony.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He's figured a lot out." Lena swore she could hear a warmth in his voice. "Never in my life did I imagine I'd end up somewhere like this. This is all him... He'll be alright. Him and 'Metra."

Lena looked over at him. "You think they'll make it to the long haul? Weddings and cakes and kids and all that fun stuff?"

"I guess. Would be nice… You think they’d call me Uncle Hog?"

"Wow!" Lena said teasingly, "You an even bigger softie than I thought!"

That got a small chuckle out of him as he reached back and poured himself another glass of wine, filled way past the polite 1/3 size Satya had been reminding everyone of before the gala. "Yep, it’s been a while..." ~~~~


End file.
